You're Under Arrest!
by The Draigg
Summary: What happens when Sun and Neptune become junior detectives? Well, get ready for an adventure full of crappy vans, cop movie cliches, and foiling terrorist bomb plots! Get ready for the buddy cop adventure that is... You're Under Arrest!
1. Chapter 1

**_You're Under Arrest!_**

Chapter 1: Let's Be Cops, Bro!

**Hey, it's your favorite author, The Draigg! I'm ready to serve up another multi-part story for all of you, and you're going to take it! Now, for this story, I'm going to do something a little different. That's right, this is going to be a buddy-cop story! And not with Team RWBY members, at that. So, before we get to sweating perps and slappin' cuffs on criminals, I have to go through the legal motions. Rooster Teeth owns RWBY, and I don't. I also don't own any other media I reference in here as well. There, that ought to cover me for a few chapters. Now, 10-4, let's get out there!**

**xxx**

"_Vale City._

_Called a shining gem among the kingdoms. But I've seen its true face. The lies, deceit, and murders that make up this city. It isn't a city where being nice would get you far. The main religions in this shithole are blood, money, and dust. The glue that holds the world together. Dust._

_It sounds like my type of town._

_Not every hack in a uniform can make it in this city. It's nothing but a sea of corruption, where the foam of theft, whoring, and larceny laps around the ankles of the scum that lives underground._

_I came here to make a difference, not to earn a paycheck. I don't need paperwork, I don't need reports. All I need is my brass badge, my gat, and my resilience. Those are my only partners in this wretched hive, this—_"

"Sun, could you stop already?"

"Huh?"

Sun Wukong blinked. Damn it, he had a good detective monologue going on there!

"Man, why did you have to stop me when I was on a role?" the monkey Faunus complained at his partner.

"Because…" Neptune groaned, "You've been saying NOTHING but monologues for the past five blocks!"

"How the hell do you think we're gonna be ready to be detectives if we DON'T monologue?!" Sun pointedly questioned.

In fact, that was the exact reason why Neptune and Sun were in Vale City today. About two days ago, they had received their first assignment as partners, and more importantly, as hunters. Their orders were to report in to the Vale City Police Department and sign in for their junior detective program. It was, for the lack of a better term, a major favor to Beacon Academy. After all, if the police wanted access to the rather good weapon stores and investigative labs that Beacon had, they had to give something in turn. It stood to common sense that the police could provide good experience for hunters in training. So, it was more or less a case of give or take. Thus was the relationship between Beacon Academy and the VCPD.

Anyway, back to the situation at hand, Neptune was still rather peeved at Sun for speaking in nothing but hardboiled detective narration for about an hour. Seriously, it wasn't all that interesting when he started, and now it was flat out annoying.

"I dunno, maybe actually do detective stuff when we get there?" dryly remarked Neptune.

"We gotta prep, man!" Sun protested, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Why are you so hyped about this, anyway?" the blue haired hunter asked to his partner. Seriously, while it was neat to work at a police station, it was still just an assignment. Why not treat it as such?

"Are you kidding me? We're gonna be cops, bro! We're gonna be crackin' skulls, arrestin' guys, sayin' one liners, all that stuff! It's gonna be just like television!" Sun gushed.

Neptune shot Sun an odd look as they continued to walk down the street. There was no other way to respond to that without being blunt.

"…I think you don't really get how being a cop really is…" Neptune drawled out.

"Well, if it isn't that way, I'll MAKE it that way! We're gonna be even bigger badasses than before!" ranted on Sun.

Neptune sighed when he heard that. Sun was way too hyped up to be stopped right now. But, hopefully at the station, he would be able to see how being a police officer really was. All the monotony of paperwork and sitting at a desk would probably calm him down.

"Whatever…" Neptune grumbled to himself. All he could do was hope that, in his excitement, Sun wouldn't do anything stupid to get them kicked out of the junior detective program, and get them a bad grade. Hunter assignments were like tests, you couldn't just fuck them up with reckless abandon.

The pair kept on walking down the street, towards the headquarters of the VCPD. When Sun started up his monologues again, Neptune decided it wasn't worth the headache of trying to get him to stop. Instead, he tried to focus on other things. Like, the pretty girls walking in front of him. Man, those jeans were tight in ALL the right places.

Normally, if he wasn't on assignment, Neptune would try to play the game that he normally played when he saw a pretty girl. It was called "Connect the Hots". It was where, walking down the street, you follow a hot woman until you see another one, where then you change direction to follow that one. He couldn't help but be interested in the game after hearing it on a video somewhere on DustTube. And, after he tried it for the first time, he couldn't help but like it. Sure, from an outside perspective, it made him sound like a fucking creep. But, he just couldn't help it. The sights he got from doing it were too good to pass up. But, for some reason, when he tried to ask out a few of the aforementioned girls, they all turned him down. Neptune just didn't get it. Was it his clothes? Maybe he should get a new tie…

At least Neptune had some thoughts to fully distract him now. And no, he wasn't just thinking about getting some spiffy new neckwear.

**xxx**

About twenty or so minutes later, Sun and Neptune found themselves standing in front of the VCPD Headquarters. The both of them couldn't help but stare at the brick building, and at the stairs leading up to the three pairs of double-doors. The marbled steps served to enhance the dull white edging of the roof and corners. In addition, the arches that decorated the windows added an almost gothic look to the contemporary architecture. Honestly, it was an on-point representation of mid-age inner-city architecture.

"I thought it would look bigger," Sun observed.

"I think some of the mortar is crumbling up there," Neptune added, pointing to a corner on the second floor.

At that, Sun stopped looking at the building and turned to Neptune. "Shouldn't there be, like, government funding for this stuff?" he asked.

Neptune looked at Sun. "Are you kidding me? The last I heard, the monarchy here was throwing money at some new wonder weapon against the Grimm."

That, in fact, was very true. As far as the nobility of Vale's monarchy were concerned, Project G was coming along as a success. To the military, police forces, and even civilians, it was a waste of time, effort, and money. After all the research thrown at the project, all the data gathered told the brass one immutable fact. It was that it, in no uncertain terms, wasn't efficient at all to liquefy Grimm using a portable particle array attached to a truck. But, that's neither here nor there.

"What a shame…" Sun mused. "If anything, they should be giving the cash to these guys! I mean, cops are the sickest!"

"How about all the cops that've tried to arrest you before?" noted Neptune.

Sun paused at that question. It looked like he was really considering something, before replying, "…Let me fix that. _Television_ cops are cool."

"Guess I can't argue with that." conceded Neptune.

Without any further ado, Sun and Neptune stopped looking at the building, and climbed up the steps to the entrance.

Pushing through the wooden doors, the pair entered the main lobby of the VCPD. Up at the front was a large desk, where three officers were sat. Off to the left, were a few seats for the people not being arrested to wait, and to the right was a barred door. Through the reinforced window, there were several people handcuffed to uncomfortable looking benches. Clearly, that was where the guests of honor went once they got picked up.

Sun took the initiative and strolled up to one of the officers working the desk. Grinning like a loon, he slammed his open palms down on the desk and said, "Hello! I'm a hunter, and I'm here for the junior detective thing! Where can I get my badge?"

The officer shot Sun a perplexed look. "Huh?"

Neptune took this as his cue to step in. Leaning on the desk, he calmly said, "Hey there. Me and my friend here are hunters from Beacon. Can we talk to your chief, please? We're here for the junior detective program."

The officer nodded his head. "Ohh… Yeah, I'll call 'em."

As the attending officer dialed something into his phone and talked into the receiver, Neptune and Sun turned to talk to each other.

"Dude, this is totally happening!" Sun gushed. Now he could really be part of the real life _Marky and Sutch_!

"I know, I know. Think we'll get a car?" Neptune added, going along with Sun's enthusiasm.

"We gotta at least push for a muscle car, man. And it has to have a cool pain job, too. I was thinking, how about grey with green stripes?" Sun sad, laying out his fantasy. Clearly, he put some thought into this possibility already.

"Nah. Blue with white stripes is where it's at," argued Neptune.

"Now, you see, that's your own bias coming in," Sun argued back.

"And how is your opinion not a bias?" questioned Neptune.

"Because it's not my hair color, for one. And hey, is that your natural color, or what?" Sun pressed.

Neptune shifted his gaze around awkwardly. "Wha- wha- what are you accusing me of, exactly?" the blue(?) haired hunter stammered.

Of course, Sun latched onto Neptune's defensive response. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, that was only a joke. Is your hair really not blue?"

"How about we drop it, and never bring it up again?" Neptune rather pointedly requested.

"Whatever, bro," Sun said, wisely choosing to drop the matter. He figured that if Neptune was that defensive about his actual hair color, he would take his (kind of lame) secret to the grave.

At that time, the officer got up from his chair and walked over to Sun and Neptune. "The chief will see you now. Follow me," he ordered.

Obeying, Sun and Neptune put aside their previous conversation and began to follow the officer. They were lead through the door that neither of them noticed near the public benches. That was the entrance for those fortunate enough of not winning the prize of matching silver bracelets.

Now Sun and Neptune were in the thick of it. The beating heart of the Vale City Police. They walked past several officers. Some were at their desk, working on paperwork. Others were going through files, probably on whatever case they were working on. And, just like the stereotype, some were lounging around the water cooler eating doughnuts. Clearly, they were living the dream.

Walking past the daily grind of the police officers, Sun and Neptune were lead to a group of offices lining the far wall. If one were to look through the blind-covered windows, they would see detectives going through their routines. Talking about cases, playing trashcan basketball, thinking their way through some of the crimes that plagued the city daily. It takes a good mind to be a detective. Sun and Neptune were hoping to be a part of that group. They were up to the challenge, right?

"Holy shit, this is a police station!" Sun gushed. "It's just like in _Order and Justice_!". Neptune tried his best not to roll his eyes.

Eventually, the duo stopped in front of a door with a frosted window on it. In golden lettering, the name "Chief Irons" was stenciled. Now that was a good cop name.

"Chief's in there. He'll give you your assignments and whatever." the leading officer said, before leaving Sun and Neptune to their own devices.

The door was their gate to becoming badass cops. All Sun and Neptune needed to do now was open it, and hopefully be the best damn cops ever to grace the streets of Vale City. Ironic, since neither came from here. But, soon enough, the only people bemoaning that fact would be the perps that they busted.

Probably.

If they didn't screw something up first.

**xxx**

**Who's ready for a cop comedy? A copedy? Okay, maybe we shouldn't call it that. Not all words should have a portmanteau. Back to the point, I hope that all of you are down with the idea of a different type of story, with different characters than what I usually use. But, you guys are cool, so I trust you'll stick around to see things through. Oh, and as a fun game, try to spot all the references in this chapter! Now that I think about it, that's a game you can play in all my stories. In addition, be sure to thank my lovely editor, Jimbo Yokimbo, for looking over this chapter! Alas, I must go, but don't forget to leave me a friendly message or review. Remember, I read them all!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Meet Da Chief

**Chapter number two. Or, to our friends south of the border, chapter numero dos. Or, to the fans from the east, chapter number ni. Okay, I think I thoroughly ran that joke into the ground now. Please accept my apology in the form of a chapter.**

**xxx**

Sun and Neptune awkwardly stood in front of the office door. Neither of them really knew how to make the first move. Well, Sun had a good idea, but he was trying his best not to show his excitement. You know, first impressions are important and all that.

After standing around in awkward silence, Sun decided to make his move. Before Neptune had the chance to tell him to take a deep breath and calm his hype down, his partner had already put on his biggest grin and walked into the chief's office.

"Yo! Chief! I'm Sun Wukong! How're ya doin'?" greeted Sun as he strolled towards the figure seated at the desk. Neptune let himself have a slight sigh before following after the excitable monkey.

Chief Irons could be easily described as a stout man. Bulky, kind of fat, but definitely having some muscle under it all. His hair was a slightly graying brown and the same could be said for his moustache. Combined with his loosened red tie, unbuttoned vest, and white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he looked like the exact stereotype of a police chief. The only thing that would make it even more like a stereotype would be if he was smoking a cigar.

And, as if on cue, the chief pulled a fresh cigar out of a desk drawer, cut the tip, and got out a lighter, ready to light it. So now the image was complete. Aren't character tropes refreshing?

"Oh, you're the, uh, junior detectives, eh? Take a seat," Chief Irons mumbled, gesturing to Sun and Neptune with his unlit cigar.

Obeying, the pair of trainee hunters sat in the leather chairs in front of the desk. Neptune put on his best smile, and Sun looked like he was about to burst at the seams at what he was seeing. From the looks of it, he recognized that the chief filled out the chief character archetype perfectly. As far as he was concerned, his life was about to turn into a buddy cop movie.

"Mind if I see ya ID's first?" Irons asked.

"Oh, right," Neptune said to himself as he pulled his student ID out of his pocket. Off to his side, Sun did the same.

Chief Irons leaned over his desk and snatched the IDs from the hunter's hands. He looked back and forth at the pictures on there, comparing them to the people sitting in front of him. As he looked over the cards, he asked, "So, you two think you can hack bein' a cop?"

Neptune opened his mouth to answer, but Sun beat him to the chase. "Chief, sir, I can safely tell you I'm gonna be the best damn cop here!" he loudly announced.

Irons looked up from the cards briefly to give a non-specific grunt to Sun. Then, tossing the cards back at them, the chief tented his hands and leaned on his desk.

"Okay, how about you, pretty boy?" he asked towards Neptune.

"I'll try, chief. I'll try," the blue(?) haired hunter replied. Unfortunately, his tone combined with the cheeky smile he was giving, made Neptune look like he was trying to hit on the chief. As it turned out, his persuasion skills were really only geared towards women. Not that he ever noticed.

Shooting him an eyebrow, Irons said, "…Right. Anyway, if you're going to be here for a few weeks, there's a few things you outgha know. Ya know, rules 'n regs. That stuff."

"Like what, exactly?" Sun quickly (a little too quickly, in fact) asked.

"Like knowing where the desks are, gettin' your service guns, readin' rights, that type of thing," Chief Irons explained. However, Sun couldn't help but take some offence to one of the things he mentioned.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Chief, don't bother giving me a gun. I got my own here," Sun said, reaching to his back. Grabbing Ryuji Bang and Jingu Bang from where he tucked them in his waistband, he proudly displayed them to the chief.

"Dude, put that away!" Neptune hissed at him. At least he had the decency to keep his weapon slung under his jacket.

"I mean, look at these! It's more than enough to take down a dude!" explained Sun as he began to swing his weapons around in their nunchuck form.

"Son, put those away. There's a good reason that we want you to—" Irons tried to explain, before one of Sun's nunchuck guns went off.

As it turned out, swinging around nunchucks that were also lever action guns while seated wasn't a good idea. What made that an even worse idea was bothering to have one round in the chamber while you weren't trying to kill someone. Normally, this would be no problem while you were standing and didn't have a finger on the trigger. But if you were in the position that a gun could be slammed against an armrest and fire, it was a blazingly stupid move to do.

Sun limply held the nunchuck in his hand as he stared at the fresh hole in the window. He could have sworn that he heard a bird squawk just after the gun went off. That poor, poor pigeon. As Chief Irons and Neptune glared at Sun, the monkey Faunus awkwardly and silently put his weapons back into his waistband.

"I… I think I'll take the service gun now…" Sun muttered.

Irons sighed and rubbed his temples. "THIS is why we give ya guns. So you don't fire yours off like some goddamn jackass!" he growled.

Seeing the bad situation brewing, Neptune tried to help along the meeting. Otherwise, they would get kicked out before their assignments even got started. "So, uh…" he began to ask, "Where should we pick up our stuff?"

Chief Irons leveled his gaze at Neptune. "See Officer Morales at the armory. He'll get you your shit," he rumbled.

Taking the opportunity to escape the tense situation that developed, Neptune stood up to leave. He might as well look for the armory now, and get that out of the way. "Thanks for talking to us, chief," he politely said, holding out his hand for a shake.

Instead, Chief Irons gave his hand a slap and said, "Just go get your stuff. Oh, and show up at nine o' clock tomorrow at the briefing room. You'll get your assignments then."

"Got it," Neptune said as he walked towards the door.

Getting up, Sun decided to follow Neptune out of the office. However, before he passed the threshold, he heard one last quip from Chief Irons.

"Hey, monkey boy. Don't let your tail get stuck in the door."

Sun debated saying something back to him, but ultimately decided against it. He needed to play the game if he wanted to become a badass cop, after all. "I won't, sir," he muttered before closing the door behind him.

When the hunters in training left, Chief Irons lit the cigar he had in his hand and took a deep drag. These rookies were going to be the death of him.

**xxx**

"What the fuck was that in there?!" Neptune lowly hissed at Sun. as they walked towards where they thought the armory was.

"I don't know, I didn't think that was going to happen!" was Sun's defense.

"You were swinging around guns like some asshole in there!" Neptune argued back.

Sun dipped his head in shame. That floor he was walking on right now was way more forgiving than the mistake he just made. It was almost comforting, the way the tiling made a nice zigzag pattern, freshly mopped and waxed…

Sun was snapped out of his distraction by Neptune continuing on with his complaining. "I mean, just… what the hell, man?! What the actual hell?!"

"I thought it would be cool…" Sun grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. Given his luck so far, he wouldn't be surprised if his guns went off just by doing that. Luckily for his ass and tail, they didn't.

"You're lucky we didn't get tossed out on our asses! You have a brain, so use it!" was the end of Neptune's raving. After that, the silent air around Sun and Neptune became filled with awkward tension. Sun was already acting like a loose cannon! Well, more than normal, anyway. Having a thief as a partner was kind of a morally ambiguous thing already. But now that he was trying to act like a cowboy cop… it seemed like Sun's behavior was turned up to fucking obnoxious on a ten-point scale.

"…Think we can make up for it by being good cops?" offered Sun.

"At this point, that's all we have to go on," Neptune sighed. "Plus, we need to be that anyway. Might as well kill two Nevermores with one boulder,". "_One of which you made in the first place,_" he added bitterly in his mind.

Hearing Neptune agree with his sentiment perked Sun up. "Then we'll be the best damn cops ever! We'll be the fucking poster-boys of the department!" he proudly declared, his chest swelling with determination.

"You weren't planning on stealing anything, were you?" Neptune flatly asked.

That took the wind out of Sun's sails. The truth stung when it was redirected towards him. To be honest, he was already planning on making a bunch of office supplies "disappear" suddenly. Nothing big, like computers or anything that would be noticeable. Small stuff made for a better mark, like staplers, memory sticks, or large reams of printer paper. Not that he needed any of it, it was just the rush of stealing something and getting away with it that gave Sun a nice buzz. Hell, just the thought of stealing something was making Sun's hands sweat and his heart race already. Even a bag of paperclips would do right now. No! No! He had to repress those urges, damn it! He needed to be a good cop!

As Sun had an internal conflict, the hunter duo approached the door that had the sign "Armory" above it. It was across from the locker room, helpfully labeled with a similar sign. How convenient.

The armory itself wasn't all that impressive. In fact, it was downright normal. Just a plain grey room, with a long counter running across the length of the area. The window above it was covered with a metal fence, with only a small slit below it to hand out the requested item. Off to the side was a door, presumably leading to where the weapons and equipment were stored. Plain, practical, utilitarian. Just what was needed to work.

Neptune and Sun sauntered up to the counter. The officer behind the grating, presumably Officer Morales, picked his head up from what appeared to be a magazine to look at the duo.

"You two need something?" he bluntly asked them.

"Yeah, uh, we need badges and out guns." Neptune explained. When all that got him was a bemused eyebrow, he added, "We're junior detectives."

"Oh. Well, in that case, I have to give you these first," Officer Morales said, as he reached to a small box next to where he sat. Pulling out what looked like two small business cards, he slid them over to Neptune and Sun under the window slot.

The pair each took one and observed what the cards were. "Oh, these are the arrest rights!" Sun observed out loud.

"Good observation. You'll be a detective yet," Morales quipped before getting out of his chair. Before Sun could think of a comeback, the officer had disappeared deeper into the armory to get their supplies.

While Morales was busy, Sun turned to Neptune and gushed, "Dude, we're getting badges! Fucking sick!"

"I know, I know. But let's save that for when we actually get them, okay?" replied Neptune.

Just as the words left his mouth, Morales returned to the window. First, he slid two badges under the slot, followed by two (thankfully empty) service revolvers. "You'll get bullets tomorrow. For now, just put these in your lockers, okay?" said Officer Morales.

Sun and Neptune briefly looked at each other in confusion.

"Uhh, we didn't get assigned one," Sun stated.

"Ohhh… right, right. Yeah, hold on," realized Officer Morales. Then, rolling his office chair over to a corner of the counter, he dug through a box of jingling keys. After a minute of searching, he found the right key and slid his chair back into place. "You two will share on. The junior detective locker is towards the back of the other room," he explained further.

Taking the locker key, Sun tossed it in the air and caught it as it fell. He played with it a little more, before saying, "Is there anything else?"

Officer Morales simply shrugged and went back to reading his magazine. Well, even if that wasn't everything, that was probably the extent of help Sun and Neptune were going to get out of the officer.

With that out of the way, Sun and Neptune walked out of the armory, and into the room directly across the hallway.

The locker room was very much the same as the armory, if only by the fact that it was made with practicality in mind. Just rows of lockers and benches in a drab grey room lit by halogen lights. Just a painfully normal, functional room. If Sun were to think about that, instead of looking at his service revolver, he would have noticed that a real police station was way more boring than what was on television.

But, since he didn't, Sun kept on messing with the revolver. He hefted it in his hand to test the weight, and tried twirling it. At least he was able to pull that off without accidentally shooting anything.

"Is that it over there?" Neptune asked, breaking the silence. He pointed over to a lone locker, shoved off in a far corner of the room. On it read the label "J.D.P. Storage".

"Yep, looks like it," answered Sun as he walked over to it.

Twirling the key between his fingers, Sun added a flourish to unlocking his and Neptune's locker. Once they tossed their gear into the locker, including their badges, Sun made sure to lock it. Who knew if there were any thieves in this department (other than him)?

Once that was accomplished, Sun turned to Neptune with a huge, almost excrement-devouring smile.

"Bro, this is it! We're fucking cops now!" he proudly boasted.

Neptune couldn't help but smile himself a little. Yeah, now he was in the thick of it. He was a cop now, with a stinkin' badge and everything! "You're god damn right we are," the hunter—no, officer stated with a measure of pride.

Sun opened his arms out wide. "C'mon man. Hug it out," he asked. Neptune briefly hesitated at the offer for a bro-hug.

"Ah, screw it," Neptune decided, before going in for the manliest of hugs. What that means is that it involved lightly tapping on the hugging partner's back with your fists, and trying not to have homoerotic thoughts. One of them was having a harder time at that than the other.

Once the hug was broken, Neptune and Sun couldn't help but still smile at each other. This high was simply too great. Yeah, they were big-dick police officers now!

Criminals beware!

**xxx**

**Oh man, now the scum of Vale City has to look out! We have a partially reformed thief and a man so terrible at flirting he probably makes women dry up on the prowl! Yeah, when you put it like that, it sounds terrible. Whatever, I'm just being realistic. Anyway, strap in, folks. This season is getting started! In fact, it's starting… now! Get ready for an adventure full of every cop show trope imaginable! And, take that as a promise. TvTropes certainly can't fail me at this task. I mean, it hasn't gotten rid of the link to my story, so anything is really possible. All I need now is my own page… Ahh, fantasies. Anyway, before I go, just a friendly reminder to let me know what you honestly think about this story. I appreciate all feedback, so don't hold back! Plus, once again I must thank the ultimate editor, Jimbo Yokimbo, for making my ideas sound somewhat coherent!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Planning out CRME

**And… who's ready to set off a Roman candle? …Okay, that was a bad pun. As you probably guessed by the chapter title right above these words, the criminal plot is going to be introduced here. Like any good cop show, you need to have some focus on the perpetrators, otherwise it'll look like the arc villains just came out of nowhere. So, enough said about that, let's read this thing!**

**xxx**

Meanwhile, while a certain hunter duo was getting their detective related affairs in order…

Roman Torchwick groaned as he put his feet up on his desk. So far, he wasn't all that happy with his current long-haul job, for a variety over reasons.

First of all, he had to work with the White Fang. Now, while he had no problem selling some of the dust he had stolen to them under the table (which he was making a killing at, by the way), he did have a problem with the way the mutts handled themselves around his warehouse. It seemed like every day, he had to remind some freak off of his leash not to try and leave their sheddings everywhere. It just wasn't hygienic. Also, they kept on ruining all the facilities that worked perfectly fine before. They kept on clogging the toilets, and apparently very few of them actually knew how to properly handle dust. There had been at least five small fires and three instances of an accidental blizzard in the past month. Didn't they pay attention to that PSA stuff that the Azul Concern put out? Or the instructions that came in the ammo crates he stole? Yet again, none of them were really gifted with the intelligence of a human. It kind of made sense, but that didn't make it not expensive and annoying.

The second sticking point was his fine "employer" and her posse of shithead kids. That Cinder woman had to have known that Roman felt pretty much NO respect for her at all. She kept on acting all weirdly aloof, never bothered to share her plans with him, and kept on talking in very vague sentences. She was acting like such a cartoon villain, that Roman was sure that if she had a moustache, she would be twirling it constantly. And her two sidekicks, the Bitch Brigade, were more annoying than a puppy that wouldn't stop humping your leg. Yet again, that would describe the green-haired one, Emerald, perfectly. It was like her mouth was firmly placed around Cinder's asshole at all times, except to be annoying to him. And that Mercury kid was a snarky piece of shit. "Oh, don't let the door hit your ass on the way out, Roman," or "More like Roman _Touchdick_," are some of the finer examples of why Roman hoped that Mercury would get leprosy targeted at his penis.

As Roman fumed over these facts in his mind, his vertically-challenged assistant, Neo, skipped through the door of the warehouse office. At least she didn't talk shit about him. Yet again, she couldn't talk period. That was one small blessing to have. Regardless, he wasn't in the mood to be interrupted right now. He desperately needed some free time to himself.

Roman blew away a stray lock of hair from his face. "What do you need, hobbit? Is the Shire in danger again?" he dryly asked to his partner in crime. For that, Roman was rewarded with a glare from Neo and a parasol knocking off his bowler hat.

"Hey, watch the headwear!" Roman complained as he got out of his chair to pick up his hat.

As he bent over and grabbed his bowler, Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald walked into the office. That must have been what Neo walked in to tell him about. Great, now his "me" time was ruined even further.

"Do you three need something? Because, as much as I love our little drum circle pow-wows, I got stuff I want to do too," Roman sneered as he put his spiffy hat back in its rightful place.

Cinder, being the person that she was, strode up to Roman and lightly stroked his cheek. Roman tried not to roll his eyes at the overblown gesture.

"Roman, darling, we have plans to discuss," Cinder explained. As if on cue, Mercury closed the office door, and Emerald closed the warehouse floor window's blinds. Oh, this ought to be exciting.

"I must say, you've been doing a fair job so far," continued Cinder as she walked around to Roman's desk and sat on a corner. "Such a fine job… In fact, we want you to help us in our next step."

"What's that? Because I'm completely lost at what you want," said Roman.

Cinder waved a limp hand. "Oh, you don't need to worry about details. You just need to worry about your job," she continued.

"Care to tell me what you want? You know, so I can actually do it?" Roman complained.

"Don't talk that way to Cinder!" Emerald said, taking a step towards Roman. But, her approach was stopped by Cinder holding up her hand.

"Eager, are we? Well, Mercury is more than ready to answer your concerns," Cinder drawled out as Mercury walked up to the desk.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, Mercury pulled out a folded up piece of paper. Handing it to Roman, Mercury began to say, "We want you to get someone to build this. I'm sure you can manage that, right?"

Roman unfolded the paper and examined its contents. What was written on it was undeniable: it was schematics for a bomb. "So you want me to get a bomb-maker for you?" he thought aloud.

"No, we want you to get us electric toothbrushes. Of course the bomb, genius. Actually, maybe this job is too hard for you," Mercury sneered.

"Yeah, about as hard as your dick in another man's ass," Roman snarked back.

"What was that? I was distracted by your bad wardrobe choices. It's tragic, really," Mercury shot at Roman.

Now that was some good material Roman could work with. "Maybe you should get your eyes checked. I'm Roman Torchwick, not your mom on the weekend."

"Enough, you two," Cinder firmly stated, bringing the fight to halt.

"Sorry…:" hesitantly muttered Mercury as he shrank back to Emerald's side.

Roman allowed himself a smirk. In his mind, he won that one. Score one for him.

"Anyway," Cinder said, "Given your… connections, I can assume that you can get five of those made. Or is that not possible?". That last part didn't come off as a question, but more as a threat.

"I'll see what I can do. After all, I'm like a delivery man: I always deliver," Roman smugly complimented himself.

"I can easily see you being one, Roman," Emerald commented from near the door. Roman, having run out of good insults, resulted to shooting the girl a glare.

Ignoring the comment from her subordinate, Cinder continued on. "Once you get the bombs, you're to bring them to—". She was cut off by a small, buzzing song.

"_You are the Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen/Dancing Queen, feel the beat from the tambourine_"

The inhabitants of the room stood around in awkward silence as someone's scroll rang. Well, except for Neo. Instead, she was laughing with some weird, wheezing chuckle.

_"__You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life/See that girl, watch that scene, digging the Dancing Queen"_

Sighing, Roman pulled his scroll out of his pants pocket. Yeah, that was his ringtone, alright. Looking at the caller ID, he saw that it was his lawyer. Well, he had to take this call. It might be something important.

"Hey, Goldman, you're calling at bad time, so this better be important." Roman said into the receiver. His small scowl turned into a full one as he listened to what his lawyer had to say. "What?! Why the hell did I hire you for if she can do that?!".

Emerald wasn't happy with the way Roman just blew off what Cinder had to say. She was Cinder Fall, damn it! She was paying him good money, and he was ignoring her! So, Emerald took the initiative, and walked over to Roman to swipe the scroll from his hand.

"Hang up! This is more important!" Emerald tried to scold Roman. Instead, all the master thief did was lean out of the way of Emerald's swatting and held up a finger to be patient.

"You tell her I'm not paying a cent for that brat! He isn't mine, I shouldn't have to pay for that waste of space!" yelled Roman into the phone.

Now Cinder herself was getting impatient. "Roman, hang up the scroll, we've got more important things to discuss," she lowly vented at him.

Looking at Cinder, Roman simply said "Nah-ah-ah," and went back to listening to what his lawyer had to say. "She's got nothing on me!" he suddenly yelled into his scroll. "I have the paperwork! That kid isn't mine! He doesn't even look like me!"

Now it was Mercury's turn to try and get the scroll to hang up. Unfortunately, all that accomplished was him and Roman getting into a lame slap-fight that only served to make Neo wheeze-laugh even more. There was no way to take what she was seeing seriously at all.

"Gah—Hang up the scroll, assho—ah!" Mercury grunted as he traded slaps with the bowler-hatted man.

"Mff—Aren't YOU a fucking genete—stop—geneticist! Just stop that broad from getting my money!" Roman yelled at his scroll and Mercury simultaneously. He was having a hard time holding off Mercury with only his free hand, so he had to end this now.

Then, with one last shove, Roman pushed Mercury back and hung up on the call. Trying to regain his composure, Roman straightened his hat and brushed a few stray hairs out of his face. "Now what was it you wanted before I was," Roman shot Mercury a look, "RUDELY interrupted?"

Cinder continued where she let off, except in a much more tense tone. "You're to take the bombs to Mountain Glen, and take some of the White Fang with you. From there, you'll get more instructions. Do you understand, or am I being obtuse?". Once again, she made the end question sound unpleasant.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Only… I'm not sure I can get the job done with these dry hands, if you get my drift," Roman snidely said. He rubbed his fingers together to leave no doubt he was talking about getting paid.

Cinder sighed and said, "Oh, Roman. Only thinking about lien,". Then, at that, she stood up and headed towards the office door. Emerald made sure to open it for her, being Cinder's official suck-up.

Pausing in the doorway, Cinder said over her shoulder, "Once that's accomplished, you'll have all the lien you'll ever want."

Out walked Cinder, followed by Mercury and Emerald, who slammed the door behind her. What kind of mature person slams a door?

Roman was officially done with today. Between those shit kids, their MILF who had her hands firmly on the supervillain ball, and being forced into making child support payments, he was simply, utterly, and completely fucking done with this. He hadn't felt this frustrated ever since Neo once hid his hat for a week as a joke.

Slumping into his chair, Roman opened a bottom drawer to reveal a bottle of fine whiskey. He nodded at Neo and said, "Want a glass?"

Neo simply shook her head, and instead skipped over to the mini-fridge that sat in the corner next to the filing cabinets. She pulled out her personal ice cream stash while Roman grabbed a glass from the drawer and poured himself a drink.

Roman enjoyed the nice burn that the whiskey left in his chest. He looked at the drink as he swirled it around in his glass, before glancing over at Neo. She was in the process of scooping out some Neapolitan ice cream and putting it into her favorite mug. Now that got Roman's attention.

Neo finished putting some of her namesake food into the mug, and stashed away the ice cream back into the mini-fridge. Then, she walked over to the old microwave on the table near the window, and slid the mug inside. Roman followed this action with a measure of curiosity. Was Neo trying to make an ice cream drink? If she was, he had to give her some credit for creativity, even if the idea of drinking melted ice cream was pretty weird.

"You're seriously going to drink that?" Roman asked, breaking the silence.

Spinning on her heel to face Roman, Neo gave him a hearty nod of the head. The look in her heterochromatic eyes screamed that she was beyond pleased at coming up with the idea. To her, this was like coming up with a way to drink liquid orgasms.

"You're crazy in more ways than one…" Roman muttered for himself to hear. But, it wasn't meant as an insult. It was more like a light, joking observation. After all, Neo was pretty much the only person here that he held some respect for (other than himself, obviously). She had gone through as many scrapes with the cops as he had, and she was quite the good thief and lookout.

Roman was pulled out of his thoughts as the microwave stopped running. Neo happily tapped her foot as she pulled out her ice cream drink. Then, with a joyful flourish, Neo sat in the chair across from Roman's desk.

"To getting paid," Roman toasted to himself, before taking another sip of his drink. Neo did the same, and took a swig of melted ice cream from her mug.

To say that it looked like Neo's mind was blown was an understatement. After that one sip, she then greedily slurped down the rest of the melted treat in record time (if there was to be a record for drinking melted ice cream). Soon enough, the entire mug was drained, even down to the final drop.

Happily, Neo rubbed her stomach and smiled. Then, noticing Roman watching her, held out her mug to him.

"…?"

"Gonna pass on that offer," Roman replied as he took another sip from his glass.

However, Neo persisted. "…!"

"Look, I'm just not an ice cream kind of guy," said Roman.

"…"

Roman clicked his tongue at Neo. "Yes, I'll have you know my parents DID love me, thank you very much."

"…"

"I don't see what that has to do with it."

"…"

"What? Of course they gave me ice cream! I just don't want any right now!"

"…!"

"I wouldn't say it's the BEST…"

"…!"

Roman just decided to blow off the argument. There was no way he was going to give what Neo non-verbally said a dignified response. "Whatever floats your boat…". At that, Roman decided that what was happening outside of his parking-lot side window was way more interesting.

After sitting a few minutes in silence, Roman eventually broke the air with, "Want to go sell more dust to the White Fang?". Although he wasn't facing Neo, it was clear that he was watching Neo out of the corner of his vision, waiting for a response.

Standing up, Neo blinked. With the combination of her changing eye colors, and the slightly manic grin she was sporting, it was clear that she was ready to make some cash. How else could she afford these fashionable clothes and all the ice cream she ate?

Roman stood up and grabbed his cane off of the nearby coat rack where it hung. "Now that's more like it," he said, matching his partner's grin.

After all, what was the harm in selling off a little dust under the table? It was stolen, and if Cinder didn't notice now, Roman doubted she ever would. Plus, it wasn't like those mongrels in the main warehouse could do anything smart with it.

And so, Roman Torchwick and his height disadvantaged partner, Neo, left the office, ready to make a few quick lien for the day.

**xxx**

**Ohh, foreboding! Maybe. I'm not entirely clear on what that word means. I can't word good. Oh, and credit to ABBA for making "Dancing Queen". Of course Roman had that as his ringtone. Would you expect anything different from a dashing rogue like him? (Maybe). Anyway, like normal, feel free to talk to me about this story so far. Feedback is always smiled upon in The Draigg's domain. Objectivism, however, isn't. Fuck objectivism.**

**Philosophical opinions aside, let me just say thank you to Jimbo Yokimbo for editing this chapter. Truly, he's da real MVP (of editors). And thus, this has been The Draigg, and I'll see you next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Roll On The Patrol

**The chapter title kind of rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? Well, to me it does. But, you're not here to hear about me. You're here to hear about Sun and Neptune and their cop stuff while they're still there in the department. Try to say that ten times fast. Not that I can hear it, of course. But, it's still fun to do. Like reading! Speaking of reading, let's get to this latest chapter!**

**xxx**

Sun and Neptune showed up at the Vale City Police Department that morning, at nine o'clock sharp. But, what was less sharp about the duo was what they were wearing.

For some ungodly reason, Sun had gotten it in his mind last night to dress up like the typical 'loose cannon cop' character archetype. So, he was wearing a pair of weathered jeans, a dark blue flannel shirt that was less than halfway buttoned up, and a yellow letterman jacket. Oh, and a pair of orange aviator sunglasses, too.

Neptune on the other hand, was practically forced by Sun to wear boring brown slacks, a white shirt, dark blue tie, and grubby blue flannel blazer with leather patches on the elbows. And, when 'forced' was mentioned, it was more along the lines of, 'Sun had thrown his regular clothes out the window, leaving only these ones'. Sun was glad, though. Now they really looked the part of a buddy cop duo! They were the winning combination of a by the book, straight-laced detective, and a reckless cop who didn't play by anyone's rules!

Spitting out the toothpick he was chewing on, Sun turned to Neptune and said, "Ready to stop crime, partner?"

"Let's just go in already," Neptune groaned. He seriously needed either a strong cup of coffee or a fistful of aspirin. Maybe both. Probably both. A bullet to the head would be nice too.

As the hunter pair walked through the police department, Neptune couldn't help but notice a bunch of strange looks thrown their way. Mostly at Sun, but quite a few were cast at Neptune as well.

"Uh, dude? We're getting looks," Neptune pointed out to Sun as they walked past all the officer's desks.

"Ignore 'em. They wouldn't know a badass cop duo if it bit 'em in the dick," disregarded Sun.

All Neptune could do was groan as he and Sun walked into the briefing room, where a bunch of police officers and detectives were gathered.

Sun was trying his best to keep up his cool, detached attitude. But on the inside, he was really wanting to give everyone high-fives and make guitar riff noises with his mouth. This was SO badass! He was going to be fucking Riggs! Or, he would be thinking that, if the _Lethal Weapon_ series existed in their world! (Instead, they got _Fatal Gun_. Close enough).

Just as Neptune and Sun slipped into two free seats in the back of the room, Chief Irons stepped up at the front. Gripping the podium, he began to give everyone their morning briefings.

"Mornin'. Now, I'm gonna make this brief, since we've got a lot of cases to work on today. Now, to you patrol officers, just stay on the same patrols as yesterday,". Chief Irons paused to clear his throat. "Anyway, same cars, same patrols. Moving on, detectives. Ingram, Brown, get on that Hojo case. Seed, I want you to pay a visit to the Nielsen's. They've been quite for a little longer than I'd like. Hanson, Penhall: keep working on that drug bust. And Runge, we've got a lead on those hospital murders. Get on it, okay? Now, if there's any concerns about your assignments, now's the time to bring it up."

Neptune and Sun raised their hands at the same time. They briefly looked at each other in confusion, before Sun dropped his hand. He and Neptune were probably thinking the same thing. Might as well let the one on the suit do the important talking.

Chief Irons noticed Neptune's raised hand in the back of the room. "Yes, Vasilias?"

"Sun and I didn't get an assignment," Neptune pointed out. An uncomfortable silence lingered in the room. Chief Irons tapped his fingers on the podium as he thought of an assignment for them.

"Tell ya what," Irons finally said, "You'll be on patrol today. Ya know, to get a feel of being a cop? Just ask Morales for the keys to the Gabby."

"The… Gabby, sir?" Neptune couldn't help but ask. He could have sworn that he heard a few officers snickering at him. But, that could have been the air-conditioning too. An old building like this one had an AC system that sounded like a wheezing man on life support.

"Right. You'll be ridin' in the Maxwell Flats today," Irons ordered. Then, raising his voice, he said to the rest of the gathered officers, "Now get going out there! Oh, and the annual baseball game got pushed back to the third of next month."

That got a few disappointed moans from the crowd, but they didn't take their displeasure further than that. They had work to do, after all. Baseball didn't really fit into any ongoing police investigations. That, and everyone had their fill of baseball related murders ever since that one spree killer last year. Now that was a bizarre case.

Standing up, Sun made a beeline for the door, with Neptune following right beside him. He had trouble catching up, as Sun was walking much faster than normal.

"Dude, we're gonna get a fucking car!" Sun excitedly exclaimed. He just couldn't contain his excitement at that point.

"But it's called The Gabby…" Neptune complained. He just couldn't trust a car with a name like that.

"Hey man, don't be hatin' on weird names. If you did that, then you'd be hatin' on most chicks at Beacon, right?" offered Sun.

Sun certainly did have a point. Given some of the names of the students at Beacon Academy, Neptune couldn't really complain about a car named The Gabby. Off the top of his head, he could count some of the odder names he had heard mentioned around school. Names like Tor Brick, Rickert Pines, Katz Kobayashi, L'Davina Plaid, Darrel Carrot, and Velvet Scarlatina. And, as much as Neptune hated to admit it, his own name wasn't very common either. So, he had to agree with Sun that he had no real ground to judge things based on names.

"…I guess…" Neptune mumbled in defeat.

"Bro, think about it! It's probably some slick muscle car or something!" Sun continued to think aloud as they walked over to the armory.

"Sun, I doubt that they'll hand their best car over to a buncha rookies," said Neptune.

"Where's your sense of fun, man? You're fuckin' lame, I swear," Sun loudly groaned.

"Hey, I know how to have a fun time!" Neptune protested. "I'm a fun guy!"

"More like a bitch-ass nerd…" Sun mumbled at Neptune.

Now that pushed Neptune's buttons. "Hey, I'm no nerd! I'm an intellectual!" he heatedly argued.

"Oh yeah, then why does an 'intellectual'," Sun air-quoted, "carry around a D20 in his pocket? Huh? Answer THAT."

"It's a good luck charm!" was Neptune's defense. But, it was immediately shattered when Sun noticed him unconsciously playing with the die in his slacks pocket.

"Yeah, right. Admit it, you just wanna go back to the days of being a troll-elf or whatever," Sun said, his smug grin growing. He knew he had this argument in the bag.

"Okay, first of all, that isn't even possible! I mean, what would his character alignment even be? And don't get me started on classes. So, don't EVEN talk about stuff you don't know about!" Neptune angrily yelled.

"Proved it," chuckled Sun, as he relaxed his arms behind his head.

Neptune briefly snapped out of his anger at that statement. "Huh? Wha?". But then, he swiftly realized that he had been had. He played right into Sun's argument. Damn that monkey man!

"Oh, fuck you…" Neptune moaned.

By the time that argument finished, Sun and Neptune had already walked through the armory's doorway. And, of course, Officer Morales must have heard the very loud argument in the hallway, because it looked like he was trying not to laugh at the pair.

"Oh, hey, the married couple's here," he quipped at Sun and Neptune.

"Ha. Ha," Neptune sarcastically laughed. This day just wasn't going well for him so far.

Sun scratched the back of his head. "Look, Morales. We need the keys to The Gabby. Think you can just hand 'em over so we can get a move on?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Officer Morales said. He got out of his chair and walked over to a peg board full of key hooks. He browsed the selection of keys briefly, before he apparently found the right set. Taking the keys, he slid them under the window to Sun.

"It's parked at the back of the garage. Oh, and bring it back with a full tank," advised Morales.

"Yeah, whatever," Sun said, grabbing the keys and twirling them around his finger.

"Chucklefucks…" Morales muttered under his breath as Neptune and Sun walked out of the armory. But, at least he didn't have to drive that thing. Those rookies were in for a fun time indeed.

**xxx**

A while later, after Sun and Neptune had gathered all their supplies from the locker room, the pair walked into the parking garage located behind the station building. Of course, by the time they found the right way to get to the garage, most of the regular patrol officers had already left. But, being a little late wasn't a problem. There was always time to stop crime!

"Dude, this is gonna be fucking sick! We're really in it now!" Sun exclaimed as he walked down the mostly empty parkway.

"Yeah, I guess so," Neptune agree with a small grin. Sure, this morning wasn't that great, but if he could get out there and be a huge badass, then things might actually start to look up.

"Look, I think that's it!" Sun announced, pointing to a car in the distance.

"Where?" Neptune asked, squinting.

"The muscle car over there. Right next to that busted-ass van," the monkey Faunus clarified.

"Huh. I guess we did get one, huh?" Neptune observed. But, by the time he looked over at Sun to gauge his reaction, his partner had begun to sprint ahead of him.

"_It's beautiful!_" Sun thought as he raced towards the muscle car. It was everything Sun could have ever possibly wanted in a slick police car. Black rims. A dark blue paint job with red racing stripes. And a badass, rumbling engine noise when it started up.

Wait, why was it starting up?

Wait, why was it driving out of the garage?

"Oh, sonuvabitch!" Sun yelled in frustration as his dream car drove off. He stopped in place to watch his sweet ride drive off, almost unable to believe that he wasn't going to drive that piece of art.

As Neptune caught up to Sun, he heard his partner yell, "Get back here with my car, you fuckin' cockbite! Fucking fuck!"

"Calm *huff* down, Sun *puff*" pleaded Neptune as he caught his breath. He considered leaning on his friend's shoulder to catch his breath, but considering the mood he just entered, that probably wasn't a good idea.

"God DAMN it! We're stuck with that shitty fucking van?!" Sun cried incredulously.

"Looks *huff* like it," observed Neptune. Truth to be told, that was probably the last car that was available to them, unless they felt like stealing someone's personal car. But then there would be no point to being a cop anymore. They were here to stop crimes, not commit them.

Resigned to his fate, Sun walked up to the van, with his partner following him. In hindsight, he probably should have been like Neptune, and judge the car based on its name. Because, for a van this crappy, The Gabby seemed like an oddly fitting name. It was at two decades old, some of the black and white paint job was chipped, and the VCPD logo was just stenciled on the sides of the doors. If they were lucky, the sirens on the top might work.

Sun climbed into the driver's seat, and Neptune into the passenger's seat. Looking around, they noticed that the front of the van was separated from the back by a mesh grate, with only a small hatch giving them access. Well, on the plus side, at least they could hold criminals in here. The back was roomy, and had benches lined alongside the walls. Still, that didn't make up for the fact that this was a horrible car.

When the key was turned in the ignition, the engine roared—scratch that, wheezed to life. Sun rolled his eyes so much at that sound that he almost made himself dizzy.

Just before he pulled out of the parking space, Neptune stopped him. "We should probably call in us leaving, bro."

"Yeah, yeah…" Sun muttered, looking for the car number of the van. Looking at the label hanging off of the key ring, apparently The Gabby's car number was A-12.

Sun flipped on the radio attached to the dashboard and said into the receiver, "Dispatch, this is car A-12, heading out."

A voice crackled on the other end, "Roger that, A-12."

Tossing the receiver back onto the dashboard, Sun took The Gabby out of park and began to drive out of the garage.

Yep, he and Neptune were on the patrol now. At least busting criminals might make them feel better. Probably.

Maybe.

**xxx**

**Really, none of you should be surprised that they're driving a van. Think about it. Nearly every car someone drives in my stories is a van. The only exception was a truck that one time. But yeah, somehow, vans are just funnier to write about. They're like a truck's fat cousin. That, and it's easy to make vans look sleazy as shit. Anyway, enough about vans, I've got other things to talk about. Like leaving me reviews or messages! Those are always fun for me to read. So get on those, please!**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm done here for now!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Drawn To Crime Like A Magnet

**You know, sometimes it's hard to come up with a good chapter title based on what happens in the chapter. But, I think I did a good job with this one. Trust me, you'll see. Oh, did I give away the joke? Nah, probably not. You'll see what I mean by that later this chapter. But, enough of my rambling, let's get to the story already!**

**xxx**

What Sun expected when he went to the VCPD was to arrest some people, get into car chases, and say cool one-liners as something blew up in the background. What he didn't expect was him spending his first day on the job sitting in a shitty van, after arresting absolutely no one the entire time he'd been out on patrol.

Seriously, he had started his patrol around 9:30 in the morning, and now it was 1:45 in the afternoon. Every time Sun heard a crime happening over the radio, it was responded to by a different patrol car before he could even pick up the mic at all. It was as if he had nothing to do all day today. No, it wasn't as if, it was exactly that.

Right now, Sun was sitting in his van, parked across the street from a noodle stand that Neptune was getting lunch from. Sun kept on watching people walk by on the sidewalk. Any one of them could be a massive drug lord or most wanted terrorist. All he needed was one call from dispatch and he was more than ready to spring into action. He wasn't dressed as a loose cannon cop on the edge for nothing.

As Neptune climbed into the van with the food, he heard Sun sigh loudly at the window. Handing Sun's cup of noodles to him, Neptune asked, "Still nothin', huh?"

"No, actually I stopped a buncha bank robbers and got the key to the fuckin' city. Whatd'ya think?" Sun snarked, frustrated with his day so far.

"Look, I'm sure that something'll come up. We just need to be patient," Neptune said while poking his chopsticks at something in his food cup.

Just as Sun turned to face Neptune to shoot down that sentence, he noticed the cup in Neptune's hand. He felt really confused at what he saw. Apparently, it was a slice of pizza inside a cup of miso soup.

"The fuck is that?" Sun couldn't help but ask.

"The guy called it 'Neo Kobe Pizza'." Explained Neptune. Then he blew away some of the rising steam, and took a sip of the soup.

"The fuck's a Neo Kobe?" questioned Sun.

Neptune simply shrugged as he ate a chunk of pizza with his chopsticks.

"…Why didn't you get me that?" Sun asked, gesturing to his cup of regular ramen.

Swallowing, Neptune replied, "How was I supposed to know what you wanted?"

Sun grumbled into his ramen, "Whatever…" and slurped down a bunch of noodles.

As Neptune and Sun munched on their lunches, they listened to the police radio for anything to respond to. But, since the way their luck so far still held up, anything that they could have responded to was picked up by a different car within a minute it was announced. Either their area already had a large police presence, or the chief shoved them off somewhere where they would be out of everyone's business. Either way, it just wasn't sitting right with either of them, with Sun more so.

Eating the last of his noodles, Sun crumpled up his paper cup and tossed it in the well between the two front seats. Now that he was done, he was in the position to hover over the radio, and respond quickly to any call. He hovered his hand over the receiver, ready for the sound of the dispatcher to come over the speaker.

Noticing this, Neptune quickly slurped down the last of the miso and chunks of pizza. "Bro, what're you doing?" he asked once he swallowed.

"Waitin' for the right moment," Sun responded. To Neptune, he had the air of someone who was fishing. There was just some serene determination there, as if all he had to do was strike at the right moment to get something good.

Neptune's observation was proven right as Sun heard the radio crackle, and snatched up the receiver in an instant.

"Units in Maxwell Flats, there's a report of shoplifting at Dust 'Till Dawn, 0093 Quess Street. Nearby cars, please respond," came the crackling voice of dispatch.

Smiling to himself, Sun said into the receiver, "Car A-12 copies that. Heading over there now."

"Copy that," said dispatch before the voice disappeared again.

"We're on the case now, boy!" Sun cried as he started up the van and turned on the sirens.

Sun had a manic grin on his face as he peeled out of his parking space and floored the gas pedal, zooming off towards the address given over the radio. This was it! This was his first way to prove himself to be a badass cop!

**xxx**

Less than five minutes later, Sun screeched The Gabby into the closest free space near From Dust 'Till Dawn. This store had suffered more than enough robberies in the past few months. So really, Sun wasn't all that surprised that this place had another thing stolen from it.

Turning off the engine/sirens and hopping out of the car, Neptune and Sun walked through the store door. The little chime attached to the door handle rang, alerting the storekeeper to the people who walked in.

Waltzing up to the front counter, Sun flashed his badge and lowered his sunglasses. "Sun Wukong. Detective. And this is my partner, Neptune," he said, gesturing to his suit-clad partner right next to him.

"Neptune Vasilias," the blue(?) haired hunter introduced himself.

"Oh, thank god! I need you to stop that thief!" the elderly shopkeeper exclaimed.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, old man. What'd this thief look like?" Sun asked.

"Oh, uh… she had reddish… nah, orangeish hair and a pink bow, I think…" mentioned the old shopkeeper.

"What about her clothes?" Neptune added.

"A dress… with green lines on it?" the shopkeeper thought out loud.

"Okay, and what did the thief steal?" finally asked Sun, taking mental notes on the description.

"…A few refrigerator magnets…" the shopkeeper mumbled, as if even he found the idea of someone stealing magnets from him ridiculous.

Sun and Neptune raised their eyebrows at the same time. "Magnets?" Neptune parroted.

"Yeah. Schnee Dust Company ones," clarified the old shopkeeper.

"Ah… okay, I think we got it. Don't worry, we'll get your stuff back," Sun said to the shopkeeper. Then, turning to Neptune, he said, "Let's roll. Shoplifter couldn't have gone that far,". Nodding, Neptune headed out the door, with Sun following after him.

Once they climbed into The Gabby, Sun started up the engine and began to cruise down the street. "Be on the lookout for a ginger with a pink bow, okay?" he advised Neptune.

His partner nodded, and Sun drove down the street. Like he said to the store owner earlier, the perp couldn't have gotten far. They had gotten to the scene of the crime shortly after the call. And, reason stood that if the thief was on foot, then they still were probably around this block.

Sun cruised down the block, also keeping an eye out for someone matching the criminal's description. He scanned one side of the street, while Neptune kept his eye on the other. Since it was an afternoon on a work day, this part of town didn't have that many people walking on the sidewalk as compared to, say, the downtown district.

Suddenly, Neptune tapped Sun on the shoulder to get his attention. "There!" he cried, pointing to a figure calmly strolling down the sidewalk. If anything, that person looked downright relaxed. The girl with the orange hair and pink bow was walking as if she had no clue what was going on. Well, Sun would have none of that.

Hoping not to draw attention to himself, Sun parked The Gabby a little up the sidewalk, hoping to nab the girl when she passed by.

Turing off the engine, Sun turned and spoke lowly to Neptune. "We wait for 'er to pass. Then, we get out and get her. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it!" Neptune said in agreement.

The girl with the bow and dress with green stripes walked past the police van. It looked like she didn't even notice how the car was marked with the VCPD logo, or that there was two people inside waiting to jump out. Just what the duo wanted.

"Now!" Sun signaled, and then he and Neptune got out of the van.

The junior detective duo quickly closed the gap between the perp with their speed walking. "Excuse me, miss?" called out Neptune.

At that, the girl with the pink bow turned around to face where the noise was coming from. "Salutations!" she greeted.

Now Sun decided to act like how he was dressed. He wasn't dressed like a loose cannon for nothing. So, he grabbed the girl by the shoulder and growled, "Where are they?!"

The girl looked confused. "I'm sorry, what are you talking about?"

Neptune furrowed his brown in frustration. What the fuck was Sun doing?! Shoving his partner's grip off, he said to the monkey Faunus, "I'll get this." "_Fucking asswipe_," he added in his thoughts.

Then, turning back to the girl, Neptune flashed his badge and said, "Lady, we're cops. We've heard a report of a theft around here." He paused for dramatic effect. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, eh?"

The girl's eyes briefly dilated before she answered. "N-no *hic*!"

Neptune and Sun shared a brief glance before Neptune continued his questioning. "Well, a person matching your description was said to have stolen a few things from From Dust Till Dawn. Now, let me ask again: do you know anything about that?"

"I… no *hic*!" the girl replied, awkwardly shuffling away from her interrogator.

"_She's got a fuckin' tell!_" Sun thought to himself. She was clearly lying, and she kept on hiccupping when she did! Plus, she wasn't hiccupping when they saw her walk down the street, so this could only be a tell.

"Stop lyin'! Where are the goods?!" Sun yelled at the girl.

"I don't know any- *hic* thing about magnets!" the girl cried, her eyes shifting back and forth.

"I didn't say anything about magnets," Neptune stated. He had to give it to Sun a little, at least his yelling got the girl to slip up.

"I… I…" the girl said, before slumping her shoulders in defeat. "I took the magnets."

"Great! Now hand 'em over!" Sun demanded, holding out his hand.

Looking dejected, the girl stuck her hand into her pocket, and pulled out three magnets. She then offered her hand to Sun. Sun tried to grab the magnets out of her hand, but for some odd reason, they refused to come off. He tried to pull harder, but to no avail. They seemed stuck to her hand.

"Is this some fuckin' joke?" Sun grunted as he kept on tugging at the magnets. All he got was an ashamed look from the girl.

Over his shoulder, Sun ordered to Neptune, "Help me with this, bro!"

Shrugging, Neptune got behind Sun and pulled on his shoulders, hoping to increase the strength of his pulling. After another minute of grunting, sweating, swearing, and tugging, the prize finally came in Sun's hand.

"Got 'em!" Sun smirked. He tossed the magnets in the air, planning on catching them as they fell.

Instead, the magnets changed course mid-air, and made a beeline straight to the girl's forehead. With a loud think, the three magnets collided with the girl's head, making her stagger back a step.

The hunter pair watched on in confusion. Why were the magnets attracted to the girl's head? But, before they could ask her for anything that might clarify that question, the girl began to act oddly.

"OoooooOOOOoooohhhh~! Daisy… daisy…" the girl moaned, her voice taking on a slight metallic and tinny tone. Her eyes rolled around wildly, and her body kept on making small spasms, almost like twitches.

"The fuck…?" Neptune and Sun said at the same time. This was easily the most confused they felt, even compared to the last time that ever happened. (That one involved accidentally renting gay porn when they thought it was an action movie. They agreed to never bring it up again.)

"Oh fantasticccccccccccc~!" the strange girl cried once more before collapsing to the ground like a limp fish. She couldn't stop twitching and drooling, however.

Now Sun and Neptune were at a complete loss on what to do now. Hell, they didn't even know how the heck this happened. How were they expected to handle someone reacting to having magnets attracted to their body and suddenly having a weird, almost orgasmic sounding fit?

"I… think we should call an ambulance," suggested Neptune.

"Yeah, good idea," swiftly agreed Sun. Whipping out his scroll, he quickly dialed the number for emergency services. They needed to get this girl some help, criminal or not. It should always be an officer's duty to keep their suspects alive, after all.

"Hello? Yeah, can you send an ambulance to Quess Street, just down from From Dust 'Till Dawn? We have a chick here, and I'm thinkin' she's havin' a seizure or something. Right next to a police van. Get here soon!" Sun said into his scroll. After hearing a confirmation on the other end, he hung it up and returned his gaze to the odd girl.

"I guess we shouldn't do anythin' to her…" Sun thought out loud.

"Yeah. We don't know if she'll hurt herself or not," agreed Neptune.

So, all the wannabe super-cop duo could do was watch while some weird girl sounded like she was getting off on magnets stuck to her head, while also having a jerking seizure. So much for their first bust as junior detectives. But, it could be worse. They could be dead, or on fire, or something like that.

Oh well. To live is to endure. And Sun and Neptune would have to do just that.

**xxx**

**You know, with all these references to a certain game, I could probably just turn this story into a RWBY version of ****_Snatcher_****. I mean, you got the food, you got the robot girl, all I really need is to put someone in a sweet trench coat and have them drink as much as Rick Deckard from ****_Blade Runner_****. Hmm, maybe I'll come back to that idea. It sounds pretty awesome to me. I'll tuck that one away for later. Anyway, enough about awesome old games. I should probably wrap up this chapter. As always, be sure to leave me either a comment or review, those are always appreciated!**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm bidding you all adieu for now!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: This Is Bullshit, Man

**I can easily hear Sun saying that title, can't you? Well, you should, because it's a paraphrased quote from this chapter. Yep, I'm just taking the easy way out when it comes to thinking of chapter titles for this block of writing. I can't really think of anything better that fits this chapter. Plus, it gives you good idea of what it's about, don't you think? Well, enough of my ramblings, we've got a story to continue! Let's go forth, and read with our eyes!**

**xxx**

The next day…

Sun and Neptune were sitting in Beacon Academy's cafeteria that morning. Today, they didn't have to report into the VCPD. It was a catch-up day, to allow the hunters-in-training to work on the classwork they had missed yesterday. But, it wasn't like the pair wanted to go back there today, anyway.

If anything, Neptune was feeling a little down in the dumps. Sun, however, was nearly flat-out depressed. The thing was, they handed over that weird girl over to police custody. But, at the end of the day, after they didn't bust any more people, they were told by Chief Irons that the girl's guardians had posted bail, and that she was let go from the department's lockup facility. So, more or less, they had accomplished nothing except looking like a bunch of assholes yesterday.

The silence between the two was making Neptune incredibly uncomfortable. Sun was a big talker, so to see him this quiet was a bit unsettling. He needed to do something before this awkward tension built to even worse levels.

But, as luck would have it (for him), that one black haired girl with the ribbon that Sun was friends with happened to walk by with her breakfast. What was her name again? Well, it should be Angel, because she had the face of one. Yet again, the last time they had met, her busty blonde friend had threatened to do… unsavory things to his manhood. But, it was a risk he was going to have to take.

"Hey, sweetheart!" Neptune called out to the black haired girl. She looked over at Neptune, and immediately grew a nasty scowl.

"What do you want, prick?" she coolly replied back.

Neptune raised his hands in defense. "Whoa, whoa, I'm not trying to, eh, do anything. I just want you to talk to Sun here," he said, nodding his head at Sun. His partner was keeping his head low, picking at his bowl of corn flakes without showing any interest in eating.

The black haired girl's face briefly flashed concern, but then hardened again. "I'm not doing this for you," she said to Neptune as she sat across from Sun.

"Hey Sun, what's wrong?" she then asked, a measure of worry in her voice.

"Fuckin' nothing…" he grunted into his cereal.

"Come on…" the girl prodded on.

"I said nothin', Blake," Sun mumbled back.

"Look, if I can tell you my problems, then you can tell me yours, okay?" reassured Blake, leaning in closer to Sun.

Sighing, Sun looked up from his cereal. He had to admit that Blake had a point. After all, if he could listen to her talk about her time in the White Fang, then he could probably talk about his problems right now. It was only fair.

"It's nothing but fuckin' bullshit, man! I mean, how the fuck can I be a fuckin' cop, if nothing I arrest stays in fuckin' jail?! And that was only after I got fuckin' lucky! Fuck…" Sun complained, finally expressing his frustration with yesterday.

Blake turned around to Neptune. "What's he talking about?" she flatly asked.

"Our hunter assignment," Neptune explained. "We're junior detectives now. Anyway, Sun wanted to be the 'loose cannon type' and bring in a criminal with style." He made sure to add air quotes around "loose cannon type".

Nodding, Blake turned back to Sun. "Why are you so worked up over this? You normally don't take things this seriously."

Sun shrugged. "I dunno… I just wanted to be like one of those guys ya see in movies, ya know? How the fuck can I be one if everything is workin' against me?"

"I'm sure that nobody is working against you," reassured Blake. Well, that was as far as they knew. They didn't know that Chief Irons put them on that specific route to keep Sun and Neptune out of his hair, but they didn't know that. There wasn't much they could do about it even if they did, anyway.

"Yeah, right," Sun spat. Then, he redirected his sour face back to his cereal, unwilling to hear any more.

Worried, Neptune nudged Blake with his shoulder to try and get her to do something. Her temper briefly flared up, and was this close to just slapping him. But, putting aside her loathing for the blue(?) haired student, she picked up that she still needed to do something.

"Look, is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" Blake asked in a calm tone. The only response she got from Sun was a small shake of the head.

Blake's cat ears unconsciously twitched as she thought. Right then, she was at a loss on how to get Sun back to his old, non-pissy self. Honestly, she thought that Sun was overreacting a bit, but maybe that was because he never had a real reason to have some of his expectations personally crushed in front of his eyes. After all, he always took things with a sense of humor and cleverness, as long as it came from someone else. If Blake had to guess, he hadn't been on the other side all that often.

"_Wait!" _Blake suddenly thought, "_He just needs a taste of his old self again! But how… He's a good listener when it comes down to it… That's it! I'll tell him a story of mine!_"

"Hey, Sun…" Blake began, "Did I ever tell you about the time Yang and I… experimented with dust crystals?"

That line certainly got Sun's attention. He looked up from his cereal bowl directly at Blake. It also got Neptune's attention. He leaded forward now curious to hear what this girl had to say. After all, the way she said "experiment" implied that it was sexy. Maybe he could pick up a few pointers.

"No…" cautiously replied Sun.

Lowering her voice, Blake began to recall her experience. She only intended for the table to hear it, after all.

"Well, it happened a few months ago… I read in Ninja—somewhere that using dust with, and on, a partner could improve a relationship. So, Yang kind of went along with it, and we got ready to try some… things with a pure crystal. The problem was that we only had a shock dust crystal on us. So, to make a long, embarrassing, and rather graphic story short, neither of us enjoyed it at all, Yang had to sit on a cushion while her aura healed the damage, and she kinda, sorta resented me for convincing her to do it. Just a little."

After a brief moment of silence, Sun began to uncontrollably laugh. How couldn't he? It was a pretty damn funny story. After all, the image of the strong Yang Xiao Long having to sit on a special cushion was more than enough to humor him.

Neptune, on the other hand, had easily one of the most powerful boners ever. It was so powerful, that it was in fact, incredibly uncomfortable, bordering on painful. Today was a bad, bad day to go commando. After all, the head of his dick was being crushed against the rough brass of his pants zipper. Only in incredibly kinky circles would that be considered a desirable thing. And Neptune wasn't that kinky of a man. A letch, sure, but not that kinky.

"BWWWAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha! Oh man! Oh fuck! Oh my- GAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sun sputtered out between laughs.

Blake lowered her head with a measure of shame. Sure, it made Sun feel better, but it wasn't one of her proudest moments. When you use kinks in a relationship, it's built on a sense of trust between partners. Blake hated to admit it, but she felt that she slightly bruised Yang's trust in her by hurting her. But, she didn't want to dwell on it too much. If she did, then it would consume her. And, if it got to that point, then she would probably be forced to see a psychiatrist again. And there was no way in HELL she was going to a shrink again. So, Blake focused on the fact that she helped Sun, and left it at that.

"That's, err, quite the story you got there…" Neptune observed, trying not to make his erection blatantly obvious.

With the irritation that only a sexually disappointed person could have, Blake turned to Neptune and hissed, "You tell anyone, and you'll become a eunuch. Understood?"

"Y-yes ma'am," Neptune quickly uttered. Losing your balls over a painful story really didn't seem like the wisest move to make at the moment.

"Good," grunted Blake. Then, turning back to Sun, she mumbled, "So, uh…". To be completely honest with herself, Blake didn't know how to proceed with her assistance. Sure, she had kind of a good grasp on how to help someone, but she didn't really know how to continue after a story like that. Well, fortune favored the bold. Might as well go ahead with at least something.

"A-are you feeling better?" Blake stiltedly asked.

"He-heyah HAHAHAhahahaHAhahahHAhAAAaaa!" Sun managed to spurt out between more laughs.

Blake allowed herself that small victory. Well, at least it made Sun feel a little better. There was no better feeling than helping a friend. The group was starting to feel much more uplifted now.

Of course, that was immediately ruined by the arrival of a certain blonde brawler.

To her, Blake sure had taken a while to grab her breakfast. So, when she went over in her girlfriend's direction to investigate, Yang was… less than pleased with what she saw. Namely, that Blake was sitting next to that one blue haired prick that they had run into a few weeks ago. All she could remember about him was when he hit on her while she was out looking for her missing sister. But, that hatred was all she needed to remember.

As Yang calmly walked up to the table, nobody there really seemed to notice her approach. But, that changed when Yang grabbed Neptune by the hair, and without asking any questions, slammed his head into the hard oak of the table.

"GAHHH!" Neptune cried in pain.

"Are you hittin' on my girl you TEAL HAIRED FUCK?!" Yang screamed at Neptune's currently squished against the table face.

"A-actually, it's—" Neptune groaned, trying to clear up Yang's mistake. His hair wasn't EXACTLY teal, after all.

"SHUT UP!" Yang yelled at him some more.

Sun stood up in shock at Yang's actions, and Blake leapt out of her chair to try and pry the blonde bruiser off of Neptune. "He isn't worth it! He isn't worth it!" she pleaded with Yang.

"He wasn't doin' nothin'!" Sun said in his partner's defense.

Yang gaze back and forth between the Faunus pair. She considered what they said. Even if she had a personal dislike for this teal-haired prick, she couldn't beat him up for no reason. Then she would be no different than that Winchester douchebag. So, Yang relented, and let go of her grip on Neptune.

As soon as Neptune sat back up, he straightened his hair and tried to put on his best smile. The idea was to look as if he was a cool enough guy to let it slide. But, because of the fact that he now had a nasty bruise on the side of his head, in addition to his slightly shaky hands, it gave off the appearance that he was someone desperately trying not to freak out.

Sun picked up on this, and immediately got in-between his friend and Yang. "Yang, what the fuck was that for?!" he demanded to know.

"I thought he was chatting up Blake!" was her defense.

"At least fuckin' think first, god damn it!" Sun cried, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

"How was I supposed to fucking know, huh? You fucking know what he did the last time I saw him!" Yang shot back.

"If it means anything to you," Neptune began to say, "I'm sorry about that…"

"Oh, yeah? Why should I believe you?" Yang asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Because I never met you before," he explained. Now was the time to fix that bridge. Of course, it wouldn't be easy, considering that be burned it down before he knew it existed. But hey, there was always second chances for everything.

So, sticking out his hand at Yang, he introduced himself. "Hey, Neptune, Neptune Vasilias. How're you doing?"

Yang stared at the teal assho—no, Neptune's hand. Man, he had some gall to try and act like nothing happened. But, at least he was also willing to start over, apparently. If Yang didn't have the capacity to forgive in some form, then she wouldn't have been able to be a good sister to Ruby, or a decent person in general. So, she weighed her choice in her mind. To forgive, or not to forgive?

Blake and Sun watched on awkwardly at the scene playing out in front of them. Neither of them were sure whether or not Yang would accept Neptune's apology. After all, it came out of him pretty quick, and Yang was pretty pissed only a scant few minutes ago. Really, any chance of forgiveness was up in the air right now.

"_He DID come off as a dick-cheese fucking cock-muncher when I first met him… but, I'd rather NOT have to beat him up every time I see him. Hell, like he just pointed out, I just did that for almost NO reason. So… I guess I can let him off a little…"_ Yang thought.

With all of her consideration done, Yang hovered her hand right next to Neptune's. But, instead of shaking it, she decided to slap Neptune's hand instead. That caught everyone off guard.

Leaning closer to Neptune's face, Yang calmly stated, "I'll forgive you. But, if you do ANYTHING to piss me off again, I won't hesitate in fucking your shit UP. Clear?"

Neptune tried to hide his nervous swallowing. "Crystal."

A grin formed across Yang's face as she corrected her standing. "Glad to have you on board!" she chirped, before clapping him on the back. Then, as if she felt everything was resolved, she began to saunter off, back to Team RWBY's table. "You comin', Blakey-poo?"

Sun couldn't help but snicker a little at Yang's pet name for Blake. "Heh, Blakey-poo…"

Blake profusely blushed at her girlfriend's nickname for her. "I swear, she got to stop…" she said under her breath. Then, turning to Sun, she gave a flat, "See you later."

With a brief, almost apologetic glance in Neptune's direction, Blake hurried after Yang.

Now that that rather bizarre scenario was finished, Sun and Neptune shared a confused look. How could either of them sum up what just happened? It was just that Neptune got shat on out of nowhere, and then made up with Yang. A lot just happened in a really short time period.

With a defeated shrug, Sun walked back over to his seat and began to eat his breakfast, while Neptune fixed the goggles on his head. They had gone askew from Yang's blow, and he needed them to rest just right on his head.

At least the worst of the day was over for them.

**xxx**

**How will this impact the future? Will it even impact the future? Who knows? Me. Well, maybe. Possibly? I can't give away any future surprises, can I? Meta question? Flag on the moon, how did it get there? …Man, I gotta stop asking vague questions. Anyway, just be sure to stay tuned for the next chapter. Look for it in present day, present time! Oh, and leave me some feedback while you're at it!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm outta here for now!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Let's Hear The CRME Update

**Hey mister! I'm mad author. It's so COOOOOLLLL! Sonuvabitch. Ahem, sorry about that. I've just been marathoning Steins:Gate again for like, the fifth time, I think. If you're thinking about watching it, go do that right now, and forget about this story. Now that you're back, or if you've seen it before, wasn't that a great story, or what? But, you're here about RWBY, not the Future Gadget Lab. Maybe I'll get around to a story about that someday. Just read this chapter already. I want to go back to watching the show.**

**xxx**

The next day, in Vale City…

Roman Torchwick sighed as he walked up to the warehouse's makeshift conference room. Not that the room itself was bad, but what was inside was what annoyed him. You see, that was the usual hangout of Mystery-MILF and Her Merry Gang of Shit-Kids. In other words, that's where Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald usually hung out whenever they weren't doing something that annoyed the shit out of Roman.

About an hour ago, he got a message on his scroll to meet them to give an update on the whole "terrorist bomb-making" thing. And, with it, today's password to say when he got to the meeting room's door.

Roman rolled his eyes at the thought of having to use a secret password. This was a criminal operation, not some god damned treehouse. Plus, the passwords were always some nerdy thing that he didn't want to be even remotely associated with. How could be possibly keep up his reputation as a man of wealth and taste if he kept on saying canned movie and anime quotes? It was preposterous!

Well, the time was at hand now. Roman faced the conference room door, prepping himself to deal with whatever bullshit he had to hear from the Batshit Brigade this time around. He resigned himself to his destiny, and knocked on the door.

"A Contact," was Mercury's muffled voice on the other side of the door. That was the challenge, now it was up to Roman to say the right comeback.

"C'mon, it's me. Open up," Roman replied, completely ignoring what he was supposed to do. He REALLY didn't want to have to say some stupid code phrase.

"Say the password," Mercury ordered.

Roman sighed again. "Be Invoked," was his begrudging answer.

There was a pause, before a series of locks and latches snapped open on the other side of the door. As the overabundant security was being taken off of the door, Roman allowed himself an eye roll before going in there. "_Nobody else has to go through this crap. Why should I_?" he thought to himself. Maybe they were doing this specifically to mess with him. Roman wouldn't put it past those shit-kids.

Before long, Mercury had undone all the locks on the door and swung the door open. Looking inside, Roman saw Cinder and Emerald waiting at the conference table that they had rigged from a few collapsible tables, while Mercury stood guard by the door.

Roman twirled his cane as he walked in. Plopping down into one of the folding chairs near the waiting others, he asked, "What now? I've got work to do, you know."

"Pfft. Right. Because hiding in your office is work," Mercury dryly remarked as he sat across from Roman.

"At least I'm not dicking around town, like some certain people I know," retorted Roman.

"Hey, those are important—" Mercury tried to get in edgewise, before being cut off by Cinder.

"Enough, you two. Honestly, at least be considerate, like Emerald here," she chided the pair.

That comment made Emerald light up brighter than a tissue paper, gasoline, and firewood factory that was just lit on fire. "Wow, thank you! I've been working really hard on being a good—"

"Hush, child," interrupted Cinder. Then, turning her attention to Roman, she said, "I trust you haven't run into any… issues in getting our first strike ready?"

"Well, to put it in _normal_ terms, yeah. In fact, that bomb guy loves your little furry convention you've got around here. He'll be here with the goods in a day or two," Roman reported.

"Good, good…" Cinder mused, leaning back in her chair. After a moment of silent contemplation, she then said, "I want you to take some of the supplies with you."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "Like what? Like, the crates of guns that we have just lying around, or something?"

"I was think more along the lines of…" Cinder trailed off as she gestured her eyes to the spare mech parts lying over in a corner of the room.

Roman picked up on this, and inwardly balked. Outwardly, he scoffed, "You can't be serious. How the hell am I supposed to get those things down there without anyone noticing?"

"With the abandoned rail system," Cinder replied, as if she was calmly ordering coffee to go along with her pie.

"…Okay, I think we've just skipped a few steps here," Roman replied in disbelief.

"It shouldn't be hard for a MASTER thief like you," Emerald dryly remarked, beating Mercury to the punch.

"Okay, first of all Greenie, I think you don't really know how much trouble it was to get that shit IN here. Secondly, and more importantly, how exactly am I supposed to get a bunch of pets off their leashes to NOT screw up somewhere along the line?" sneered Roman.

"The White Fang are more than suitable as pawns," said Cinder.

"Those fleabags barely even know how those mechs work! If they can't even handle dust properly, how the hell do you think they can keep the goods up to snuff?" Roman retorted.

"Roman, if you—" Cinder began to explain, before being interrupted by a familiar song.

"_You are the Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen/Dancing Queen, feel the beat from the tambourine_"

The frustration levels of the room shot up to unbearable degrees. "You've gotta be shittin' me…" Mercury grumbled, facepalming.

_"__You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life/See that girl, watch that scene, digging the Dancing Queen"_

Sighing to himself, Roman pulled out his scroll. On the screen was a number he wasn't looking forward to seeing: the number of his lawyer.

"Yeah, Goldman, what now?" Roman asked into the receiver.

Cinder kept a cool look on her face that hid her inner frustrations well. On the other hand, Emerald and Mercury were glaring daggers at Roman. Noticing this, Roman briefly rolled his eyes at the two while he listened to his attorney.

"That's bullshit, Saul!" Roman suddenly growled into the scroll. "What'd you mean she's filing for a DNA test?! That runt's not mine!"

Cinder irritably rubbed her eyelids. Blinking at Roman, she said in a stern voice, "Roman, if you'd PLEASE…"

Roman didn't pay attention to her in the slightest. Instead, he got angrier at his lawyer. "No, I'm NOT going to take the damn test! Isn't there some, I don't know, LEGAL shit you can do to save my ass?!"

Mercury kneeled down to turn the safety's off of his gun-greaves. One quick kick and blast, and neither Roman nor his pointless legal tie-ups wouldn't be a problem. But, Cinder noticed this out of the corner of her vision and signaled at him to stop. Begrudgingly, Mercury complied and stood up. She'd probably figure out some punishment for the douche arguing on his scroll.

"No, just NO, Saul! Look, what the fuck am I paying you for if I have to get called in for family court?! Fix this shit already! …Oh, don't give me that sob story! Look, am I going to have to come down there and teach you how to do your fucking job? No? That's what I thought. Look, if you can stall that wench in court shit, I'll make it good for you. Just do it already!"

At that, Roman finally stopped yelling into his scroll. With an angry huff, he shoved hit back into his coat pocket and looked back at the group.

Before anyone could get in a word in edgewise, Roman glared at the group and made a simple demand: "If you're going to make me take those mechs, then my price is going up. An extra 20000 for every one of them."

"You're full of shit, Roman," Mercury hissed, edging closer to him.

"Final offer," Roman said, crossing his arms.

After a tense moment of silence, Cinder relented. "You'll get your money. Just… make sure everything arrives in good condition."

"Cinder!" Emerald and Mercury exclaimed at one.

"It's fine. Plans are meant to be… flexible," Cinder said coolly.

"Great…" Roman muttered, getting out of his seat. As he walked towards the door, he waved at the group without looking back. "Make it in notes. I hate checks.". At that, Roman exited the makeshift meeting room.

Once the door closed shut, Emerald and Mercury turned to Cinder, who was disinterestedly examining her fingernails. "What was all that about?!" questioned Emerald.

Mercury added, "Yeah, why'd you agree to that shit?!"

Picking at a nail, Cinder replied, "He's not getting a single lien. Roman's getting to the end of his usefulness, so I see no real reason to pay him. After all, he'll be turned in by a nice, law-abiding citizen. Really, it's a shame that he'll be revealed anonymously."

Mercury and Emerald understood the implied threat. At least now they had clear orders on how to dispose of that nuisance. Once the time came, of course. He had to at least accomplish their first real strike. Then, he was nothing but a pointless pawn, ready to be sacrificed.

**xxx**

Meanwhile, said pawn was walking towards his car. Roman had enough of this shit today, even though it wasn't even noon yet. Yet again, this warehouse wasn't his official place of work. A professional thief didn't need an office or a workplace. He just went where the money was.

Plus, he needed to figure out how to transport a dozen mech suits to an abandoned section of the subway system. And then, after that absurdly hard part was accomplished, he then had to think of a way to get them over to Mountain Glen without any of the White Fang fucking up on the way over. Now that was a tall order. It was taller than most professional basketball players, in fact.

Roman removed his hat and checked his hair in the driver-side mirror. Yep, still orange. And yep, still roguishly dashing. Satisfied with his appearance, Roman tipped his hat back on and climbed into his car.

What Roman didn't notice was a certain someone asleep in the backseat. So, when he started up the engine, he suddenly found a stiletto pressed up against his neck. Fortunately, Roman was able to tell who it belonged to.

"Neo, what're you doing in my car? I told you, taking naps in here ruins the upholstery," he said.

Immediately, the blade was lowered and returned to its parasol sheathe. Climbing across the console, Neo plopped into the passenger's seat, a smile on her face. It was almost as if she just didn't threaten to kill her partner at all. In response to Roman's slight scowl, she cocked her head to the side innocently.

Roman didn't buy it at all. "Look, there's a perfectly good cot in storage. Just sleep on that," he scolded.

Neo pursed her lips together and vigorously shook her head. "…!" she protested. She then added a small shiver to accentuate her point.

"Look, mice aren't that scary. Seriously, how are they threatening at all?" Roman groaned.

Clicking her tongue, Neo replied "…"

"Whatever…. Let's just get home. I need a drink," Roman sighed putting the car into drive. As he pulled out of the warehouse area, all he could think about was getting into his nice terrycloth robe and drinking some finely aged scotch. That was a good way to was away the bullshit that he dealt with on a daily basis.

Neo pondered a similar thing as the car took them onto a main street. The only real difference being that instead of booze, she was daydreaming about a finely chilled bowl of ice cream. She was in a strawberry flavor mood today. After all, it was sweet, it was tasty, and the red strawberry syrup she usually added on the top reminded her of freshly spilled blood. Now that she thought about it, Neo wondered how blood would taste on top of strawberry ice cream. Probably not very good. That coppery taste just wouldn't mesh well with the sweet berry taste. After all, she had tasted enough blood to know.

And so, the unlikely criminal duo headed home, with their vices waiting for them. They were going to get paid, they were about to relax, everything was fine.

For now, anyway.

**xxx**

**Poor Roman. Or, not poor Roman. It depends on whether or not you think he deserves to get drowned in legal and child support fees. Yes, no, maybe. It's all I need to hear from you. Well, to be less ambiguous, I want to hear your thoughts, in the form of reviews. They help me write better, you know? It's like mana from the heavens, olives from the gods, or roast beef sandwiches from the local hofbrau. Man, I'm hungry. I think I'm going to get something to eat. A roast beef sandwich sounds nice.**

**So, this is The Draigg, signing off for now to get some grub!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Finally, Something Actually Cop-Like Happens

**You know, you can learn a lot from my stories. Like, how many cop movie clichés and shout-outs you can fit into a RWBY story. Or, what those clichés are in the first place. Here's some knowledge for you that doesn't have to do with the story: the color orange is named after the fruit of the same name. And your parents said you can't learn anything from sitting in front of a computer all day. Funnily enough, I'm also eating orange Tic-Tacs and drinking orange juice while I'm typing this. Orange, orange, orange. Anyway, let's just get to the story already. Orange.**

**xxx**

It had been two days ever since Blake tried to cheer him up, and yet Sun was back to resenting his lot with his assignment.

When he heard the words "junior detective", he expected a life of action, badass monologues, and being so good at his job that he would be fired, but then rehired based on how badass he had performed.

But here he was, sitting in the Gabby, watching for speeding cars with Neptune. According to the speedometer that Neptune was pointing at the street, nobody had broken the speed limit. But, that was understandable, as this was more or less a side street in a relatively unimportant part of Vale City.

Sun leaned on the steering wheel. "Holy, shit, I'm bored…" he grumbled.

"Well, at least it's easy," partially-agreed Neptune. He was starting to feel just as depressed as Sun. It was like being locked in a blank white room. Hell, Neptune would settle for being a meter-maid. At least that would be more exciting than sitting around in a shitty van, parked in some random alley.

"I mean, fuck me, dude! We could be doing fucking literally anything else!" Sun complained, sitting back up. "I think the chief has something out for us, bro."

"It probably didn't help that you blew out his window," Neptune observed.

"…Shut the fuck up," Sun spat in return. He hated to admit it, but he definitely knew Neptune had a point. "_Protip: Never whip out your gunchucks in front of your fucking boss,_" he thought.

The pair then returned to staring at the street. To say they were bored was not only the understatement of century, but it was the understatement of the Universal, After Colony, Future, and Correct Centuries as well. But not the Cosmic Era. We don't talk about that.

An idea popped into Sun's head to pass the time. He had just bought into the time-honored tradition of people watching. "Yo, Nep," he said, leaning slightly towards his partner. "What'd ya think this schlub's story, eh?"

Neptune looked over to where he guessed Sun was looking at. "You mean the guy with the hat?" he asked. Indeed, there was a guy in a cowboy hat walking on the sidewalk across the street.

"Yeah. Like, why's he wearin' a fuckin' cowboy hat? He's in a city, there's no cows here, man. And he's eastern, too. Ever hear of a fuckin' Eastern cowboy? That's fuckin' nuts," Sun rambled.

Neptune couldn't help be somewhat interested with Sun's analysis. "Maybe he had a ranch in his family for years. Like, after his family immigrated, or something," he added.

"Yeah, and now he's in the big city, lookin' to refinance his ranch shit, otherwise it'll get taken by the bank. But he's nervous, since he's never been here before," topped Sun.

"Yeah…" both Neptune and Sun said at the same time, watching the Easter cowboy walk out of their field of vision. By now, they were hooked. People-watching was way more interesting than paying attention to an empty street.

"Hey, what about that dude?" Sun then said, pointing at a bum in an alley across the street.

Neptune gazed at where Sun's finger led his vision. "You mean the homeless guy jerking off behind the dumpster?" he questioned.

"Yeah, like, what's his deal? Where did his life go if he's jerkin' the gerkin behind a dumpster?" Sun mused.

"…Shouldn't we arrest him? I mean, that's public indecency," said Neptune.

"Nah. Look, he's havin' a good time!" Sun observed. "Plus, if he's a fuckin' bum, he's already having a bad enough of a time as is."

"Dude, I'm sure nobody's comfortable with some random dude jacking off in front of them. Hell, even I'M grossed out by it," Neptune said.

"Oh, c'mon, as if you haven't seen a dick before," moaned Sun.

"It's different when one's about to cum right in front of you! I can see the fucking head!" Neptune shot back.

Sun began to mock Neptune. "Oh, look at me, I'm Neptune!" he said in an exaggerated imitation, "I don't like my dick! OoooOOOooohhh!"

"Really? That's all you can come up wi—" Neptune's complaint was cut off when the speedometer beeped, signaling a car that had broken the speed limit. At that, both Sun and Neptune looked at the car that had passed. It was a van, not unlike the one the pair was sitting in.

Neptune checked the readout on the back of the speedometer. "Ten above the limit," he noted. Turning back to Sun, he said, "Let's get him!"

"You don't need to tell me twice!" Sun excitedly claimed, taking the Gabby out of park and driving after the van.

The speeding van had stopped only a little ways up the street, at the next stop sign. The Gabby pulled up right behind it, but Sun didn't put on the sirens. He wanted to wait until they were on the next street. After all, he had to lay and spring the perfect trap. That speeding ticket was going to be EARNED.

Sun only did the briefest of stops after the other van crossed the street. Luckily, as there was pretty much nobody at this crossing, Sun was able to follow shortly after the offending car.

Now that the Gabby was right behind the van, Sun flashed on the sirens briefly, and signaled at the driver to pull over. Luckily, the driver apparently complied and flipped on his right-side blinker. As the van pulled over, the Gabby also pulled over against the curb of the sidewalk.

The junior detective pair grinned at each other as Sun put the Gabby into park. "We're finally gonna be cops. For real this time," Sun grinned.

"I know," Neptune smiled back.

Stepping out of the car, Neptune walked to the left side of the van, while Sun sauntered up to the driver. As he did so, Sun eyed over the van. Weirdly enough, it was the same model as the Gabby. The red paint was chipped near the bottom, and it was overall just as shabby as the police van.

Sun knocked on the driver's window and signaled for him to roll down the window. The window slowly rolled down the window and leaned out to face Sun.

"What can I do for you, officer?" the man politely asked. The man had loosely combed blonde hair, a slightly snubby nose, and was wearing a nice, light blue suit, with a green shirt and black, patterned tie. That made Sun feel a little suspicious. There was no way someone dressed in an expensive looking suit would be driving such a shitty van. Those two facts just didn't click together. Something was off about this guy.

"You were, uh, speeding back there, pal. By ten miles per hour," Sun said, leaning against the car door.

"Oh dear. I tell you, this speedometer is busted. Sorry about that, officer," the suspicious man said with a small chuckle.

"That's alright, mister. Can I see your I.D., please?" Sun asked. That's what they always asked in cop shows, especially when they pulled over somebody. Plus, he wanted to get a tag on this guy. There was something about him that rubbed Sun the wrong way.

"Of course," complied the man. He pulled a wallet out of his coat, and took out his driver's license. Handing it over, Sun took the I.D. and scanned over it.

Apparently this man's name was Yoshikage Kira. 144 pounds, 5 feet and 7 inches tall, and blood type A. Overall, this man was completely average. Sun just couldn't figure out what was making him on-edge. From what he saw, he didn't have enough evidence to really freak out over anything.

"Okay, Mr. Kira. Looks like that checks out," Sun said, handing back the license. Now was his chance to figure out what was off about this guy! Quickly, he came up with a good excuse. "While I get my ticket book, mind if I have my partner check out the van? Just standard procedure."

The man blinked and replied, "Sure, officer. I've got nothing to hide." His voice wavered a little at the beginning, but his tone was otherwise normal.

"Great. Just hold on," Sun said, walking towards the back of the van. Looping around, he tapped Neptune on the shoulder. "Check out the back. We got permission to," he said to his partner.

Neptune cocked an eyebrow. "Something wrong with this guy?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sun replied, before walking over to the Gabby.

While Sun took his time to get his ticket book, Neptune walked over to the back of the van. Apparently, the double doors weren't locked, as the trunk opened with a simple twist of the handles.

Neptune peered into the back of the van. This guy must have been big into home repair, gardening, and construction, because the whole back of the van looked like a hardware store. There were several bags of fertilizer, a pile of piping, and at least a dozen small spools of wire.

"Big into landscaping?" Neptune asked as he picked up a toolbox.

"Not really. Hobbies aren't really a part of my hobbies…" the perp replied without looking back.

Neptune gave a small grunt of response to the odd statement as he fumbled with the latch on the box. Flicking it open, he found some rather suspicious material. In addition to the materials just lying in the back, the box had several long looking devices, neatly lined up. They looked rather delicate and complex. Neptune calmly closed the box and placed it back. He didn't want to startle this guy. He might be dangerous if he had this type of stuff in his trunk.

Meanwhile, Sun walked back up to the driver's side with his ticket book. Trying to make conversation to buy time, Sun said to Kira, "It's kinda funny. We drive the same type of van."

"The world sure is small. Not really, but you get the idea," Kira simply replied.

Sun scribbled on the ticket, trying to remember how much he should write up the guy for going ten miles per hour over the speed limit. At the back of the van, Neptune hovered over a different box. This one was cardboard, and had one of the flaps lifted, exposing a little of what was inside.

Curious, Neptune lifted the lid and looked inside. What he found was some damn incriminating stuff. It was a whole box of White Fang paraphernalia, ranging from a folded flag with the logo on it, to a Grimm mask to cover up his identity. If Neptune had to guess, this man supported them in some way. And, in addition to the materials in the back of the van, Neptune began to piece together the clear picture. If he liked the White Fang, and had a bunch of weird stuff in the back of his van, that could only mean…

"Sun, mind coming back here?" Neptune calmly called to his partner.

"Yeah, sure," replied Sun, finishing his ticket and handing it over to Kira.

He walked over to the back of the van to see what Neptune called him over for. The answer to his question came in the form of Neptune holding up part of the White Fang flag. Sun's eyes widened in realization. This man was a criminal after all!

Not hesitating at all, Sun held his hand over his pocket, where he was storing his service pistol. Walking over to the driver's window again, he commanded, "Sir, get out of the car!"

Unfortunately, that tipped off Kira to what happened. Quickly throwing the van out of park, Kira floored the gas pedal and skidded away from the curb. A few loose objects, like spools of wire or a few pipes slipped out the back. But then, as he rounded the corner, the doors to the van's trunk slammed shut from the momentum.

"Fucking shit!" Sun swore as he and Neptune dashed over to the Gabby. Diving in, Sun took the car out of park and rounded the corner, speeding after Kira's van. "Call it in!" he yelled at Neptune.

Neptune yanked the radio receiver towards his face and yelled into it. "This is car A-12, chasing a suspected White Fang member! Heading down Hathaway Street towards Agi Avenue! Copy?!"

"Copy," dispatch responded from the other end. Neptune didn't bother to hear the dispatch call out to the other cars. Right then, he focused on the van some distance in front of them.

"Catch him, he's in a god damn van!" Neptune yelled.

"We're in a fucking van too, dipshit!" Sun growled back.

Sun tried to push the Gabby as hard as the engine under the hood would allow. However, because the van was a pile of rolling shit, they weren't going as fast as either of the pair liked. At most, they were hitting 70 mph. Fortunately, as Yoshikage Kira was driving more or less the same van, he wasn't exactly leaving dust trails either. In fact, even though he got a head start, the Gabby had managed to close the distance between the two pretty quickly. Yet again, that was also due to this street not being very crowded. The only few cars on the street were just a handful of sedans and one parked garbage truck. Yet again, how can you expect a street where a bum can get away with publicly jerking off to be crowded?

Kira's van took a sharp left at the corner of Agi Avenue, and railed towards a more crowed part of the neighborhood. Throwing his steering wheel to round the curb, Sun swore, "Fuck! He's heading towards more people!"

Now there were several more cars along the road. This forced the Gabby and Kira's van to swerve and dodge around several more cars, trying not to hit any of them. Sun could have sworn that he clipped a few side-mirrors, but he didn't care. This was for the public good, after all.

Then, further up the street, the four-way stoplight was busted. As only a few cars could go at a time, the traffic around there had slowed down significantly. Forced to make a decision, Kira blindly turned his van into the nearest open gateway. It was an entrance to the local farmer's market, where plenty of people were hoping to sell their produce. But, because of the huge amount of stalls that he could crash into, Kira was forced to slow down a bit to weave around the surprised veggie-sellers.

"Shit, the fucking stuff!" Sun grunted as chased Kira's van. A farmer's market full of people was one of the last places he'd want to have a car chase at. If anything, just the regular street or even the freeway would be preferable.

"Look out!" Neptune shouted, as a man pushing a cart of cabbages walked in front of the two vans.

Kira, noticing the cabbage cart, barely managed to swerve out of the way to avoid it. But, that was way too close of a call. He had nearly over-corrected and crashed the van. However, he hoped that the produce cart would slow down his pursuers.

Sun, however, experienced a stroke of luck. The cabbage merchant had managed to shove his cart across the street in time and dodge away from the chase raging down the street.

"That was close!" Neptune breathed in relief. They had really come close to running through that cabbage cart. It was pure luck that they missed it.

Their luck immediately flipped as another cart, this time full of fruit, was being pushed into the middle of the road. As Kira had gained a little distance in front of the Gabby, his van managed to swerve out of the way in time, without losing his speed.

The Gabby instead rammed right through the fruit cart, spilling all sorts of fruit everywhere. A blended mixture of oranges, watermelons, and bananas splattered all over the hood and the windshield.

"Shit and piss!" Neptune cried in shock.

"Fucking cliché!" Sun growled as he put on the windshield wipers, cleaning the window of the impromptu smoothie.

The two van sped towards the end of the road. However, the road continued with a sharp right turn. Otherwise, the cars would crash through a chain link fence and onto the neighboring street on the other side.

Kira didn't react in time to make the sharp turn. All he could do was hope for the best as his van ran through the fence, as if it was made of hot butter. But, as he tried to turn onto the paved street, Kira made the mistake of over-correcting. His van wavered briefly, before slamming onto one side. The momentum carried the crashed van across the street, and into a rather unlucky brick wall.

"Brake, brake!" Neptune screamed as they saw what happened in front of them. As the Gabby was a little behind Kira's van, Sun had enough time to brake, if only barely. Even though the van managed to slow down, the momentum behind the van made them skid into the rear of the flipped over van.

Sun and Neptune whipped back and forth in their seats as the airbags deployed. Even though they were protected well enough from life-threatening injury, Sun and Neptune were still rather bruised up from the collision. They had crashed hard enough to bend the front bumper of the van into a V-shape. At least the crashed van stopped the Gabby well enough. So, in a way, the van brakes worked fine.

"Oh shit…" Sun groaned as he opened his door. He was still feeling whiplash form the crash, so he didn't much as step out of the car as much as flop onto the pavement. Neptune nearly mirrored Sun, except that he managed to catch himself on the door in time.

Wheezing, Sun hauled himself to his feet and stumbled over to the side of the crashed van. Meanwhile, Neptune managed to steady his stance and lean over back into the Gabby. Reaching over, he grabbed the radio receiver and began to call in their position.

Sun leaned over to look into the now shattered passenger-side window. He hoped that Kira was still alive. Otherwise, this whole chase would be worth nothing. He needed to figure out what the deal was with this White Fang guy!

Kira was found groaning, lying down on across the van's now flipped over wall. Sun breathed a sigh of relief. He was still alive. But, if Kira was going to stay that way, he needed an ambulance. Now that Sun thought about it, he could probably use one too. That crash must've hit him hard, because it felt like a bomb just exploded behind his eyes.

Sighing, Sun leaned against the side of the van and slid to the ground. He felt much better sitting down. In fact, he could probably stay this way for a while. He was done with police work today. He could really, really use a break. Man, he felt tired.

As his eyelids fluttered, Sun could see Neptune make his way over to his side. "Sun! Sun! The cavalry's on the way, man! Hang in there!" Sun heard Neptune say.

"Dude…" Sun groaned, motioning for Neptune to come closer.

"What man?! Stay with me!" Neptune cried, hunching over to face his friend.

Sun gave a weak smile. "We're fuckin' cops…"

At that, Sun promptly fainted, his body strained from all the quick excitement (and the blow to his head didn't help). He really should have braked earlier. But, on the plus side, the duo of Sun and Neptune finally caught a (probably) high-value perp.

Shit just got real. They were really in the cop life now.

**xxx**

**Who doesn't like a good car chase? Even if it's with shitty vans? And, hey now, now the plot lines are beginning to weave together! I wonder where this could lead… I know where, but I'm not telling you. You'll just have to read more to find out. Oh, and be sure to leave a friendly review before you go!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm biting the dust!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Roll For Initiative

**You know what a major problem that impedes writing is? It isn't just a lack of motivation. It's the abundance of distractions. For me, it's the fact that I have Super Smash Bros. downloaded onto my 3DS, and it's sitting right next to my laptop. So, it's really tempting to just drop any pretense of writing and get in a few online matches using Ike. And occasionally Link. But not Marth or Lucina, I never really got the hang of their style. Anyway, enough of my rambling, let's just get back to where we left our protagonists.**

**xxx**

Neptune groaned as he leaned back and suck out his legs. That chair certainly didn't do any wonders on his back after sitting in it for about an hour.

But, he figured that was the price to pay to stick around and make sure your partner was safe. After the van accident, everyone involved was taken to the nearest hospital. Yoshikage Kira had to be kept under police watch, while Neptune and Sun were going to be fixed back into shape and sent back to Beacon Academy. But, for some reason, getting Sun patched up was taking a bit longer than it should have. After all, he woke back up on the way to the hospital, so it wasn't like the medical staff had to drag him out of a coma or anything.

"_I just hope he's alright…_" Neptune thought to himself. Even though it wasn't something he said all the time, Neptune did legitimately care about Sun. He was his buddy, his partner, his friend. Only a sociopath wouldn't show concern for a friend who got into a car crash.

Sighing for at least the fortieth time to himself, Neptune focused his gaze on the nearby television turned on in the corner. Man, this waiting room was dull. By now, Neptune regretted not asking the nurses if he could stay with Sun. After all, he got patched up much quicker than Sun. So, if anything, he had nothing but time to kill.

The television wasn't paying anything interesting. Just the usual mid-day talk show where a bunch of dry middle-aged women sit around a table and make horribly inaccurate observations on topics they didn't understand. It was a wonder how anyone how shows like that stayed on the air, let alone actually make money.

Desperate for something to do, Neptune felt around in his pockets. He couldn't look at his badge or service gun. the police (understandably) took those back before they got shipped off to the hospital. But then, Neptune felt a familiar shape. Ah, now there was something a bit more interesting. He couldn't help but smile a little as he pulled out his lucky d20. It was a little worn from all the years he carried it around, but Neptune couldn't imagine a time where he didn't like carrying it around. He had used it ever since he got into roleplaying years ago, and he never let it go since. That little lump of transparent green plastic covered in numbers always made Neptune feel better. After all, he always got his best rolls with this die. That's why it was lucky.

Now that he thought about it, that luck probably prevented him from getting badly hurt in that crash. Ha, and Sun said that he was too nerdy for carrying around the d20. The Random Number God certainly shined upon him at that moment. If only he could Sun into a game, then he would really see how cool and innovative roleplaying games really were. Really, they weren't nerdy at all. They were _intellectual_.

The die rolled around loosely in Neptune's hand. Curious, he leaned over to his left side. Hovering over the small end table holding a potted plant and some magazines, Neptune let the die fall. The plastic rattled over the pages of a gardening magazine, before tumbling onto the cheap wood of the table. Now that it had settled, Neptune checked for the result of the roll. Ah, a 20.

"Not bad, not bad at all…" Neptune muttered to himself.

Swiping the die off of the table, Neptune shoved it back into his pants pocket. He didn't want to look like some weirdo playing with dice by himself. Instead, he slumped back into his chair.

Then, as if on cue, a nurse walked into the waiting room towards Neptune. "Mr. Vasilias?" she asked.

That made Neptune perk up. "Yeah?"

"Your friend Sun is just about done here. He's coming out now."

"Great. Thanks." At that, Neptune stood up as the nurse walked back to where she came from. Hunching over, Neptune popped some of the segments of his spine. The crunching noise meant it worked. How odd was it that a place meant to heal people have chairs that can ruin backs? Go figure.

Neptune smoothed out the wrinkles on his jacket and yawned. He was more than ready to head back to Beacon. Sure, he'd probably have to fill out some paperwork as to why two hunters-in-training not only crashed police property, but how they got into the chase in the first place. Still, it was better than being stuck in some hospital in Vale City. Beacon was where his bed and stuff was. That was more than enough motivation for him to leave.

Sun walked out of the double doors separating the waiting area from the rest of the hospital. Even though he was walking, he did so a little stiffly. That was understandable. His aura would be able to fix him up back to 100% until at least tomorrow. But, other than that small point, Sun didn't look all that worse for wear.

"Back from the dead, huh?" greeted Neptune with a lopsided grin. Man, was he glad to see that Sun was okay.

Catching on immediately, Sun replied with a grin. "Yeah, just got outta Hell. Shit was fuckin' intense," he drawled out.

"I'll bet," Neptune said. His face grew more serious as he asked, "What took you so long in there?"

Sun clicked his tongue. "Buncha god damn plague doctors in there, man. I bet they wanted to use leeches on me n' shit. I swear to fuckin' god, those nurses are quacks."

"What the heck did they do to you?" pressed Neptune, more concerned.

Sun didn't want to admit the real reason why it took so long in that room. If he admitted that he refused to have a needle stuck into him, then he might as well just revoke his Manly License and dick right then and there. So, Sun did the only thing that made sense in that situation: he lied his ass off.

"They wanted some, like, tests or whatever. Some bullshit. I mean, I don't need no fuckin' CAT scan or anythin'!" Sun bluffed.

Neptune raised an eyebrow. "Dude, you fainted. It'd make sense for them to look at your brain."

Sun internally winced. Crap, he didn't expect to be caught in his lie. "C'mon, bro, I'm as fresh as a fuckin' stallion! Trust me, I'm fine!"

"Are you sure?" the blue(?) haired hunter pressed.

"Well, I mean, I could be better, but for now, I'm fine," Sun replied honestly.

Neptune scanned over his partner with a critical eye. "…Okay, fine. Just don't complain to me if you feel it later," he finally settled.

"Deal," Sun agreed.

The pair stood around stiffly, unsure how to continue on. They had just finished their debate, but neither one really knew how to play it off normally. Although to be fair to the pair, nearly everybody has gone through something similar before.

The pair spoke at the same time. "Let's go." "I think we should go."

They paused awkwardly again, making the discomfort levels skyrocket.

"Let's just get outta here…" Sun mumbled, taking the initiative.

"Right," said Neptune.

Motioning stiffly towards the sliding doors, Sun and Neptune left the hospital. Well, it wasn't as if the day could get any more worse for them.

**xxx**

Naturally, that assessment was proven completely wrong a few hours later.

As it turned out, Beacon Academy had to foot the bill on a few… certain charges from some disgruntled fruit merchant. For some odd reason, the police department was more than glad to point the merchant in the right direction for who was going to pay for his destroyed merchandise and cart. In addition to that, the police department also sent beacon the charges for repairs to the Gabby's front end.

When one considers the above, it really shouldn't have been a wonder that Sun and Neptune got calls on their scrolls telling them to report to Ozpin's office just as they got back to their dorm room. If only Neptune had rolled for luck.

The pair made their way towards the building where Ozpin's office was located. Unfortunately, having an office at the top of a tower meant that it wasn't exactly easily accessible. So, Sun and Neptune had a small journey to make from their dorm to the administrative chamber.

As the pair walked past the botanical gardens, Sun decided to break the silence that hung over their heads.

"So… how much do ya think it'll cost?"

Neptune huffed. That probably wasn't a very positive question to ask considering their current situation. "I don't know, we weren't exactly thinking of property costs when we were chasing _a_ _terrorist_," he bitterly pointed out.

"Yeah, you think they would let that thing slide…" Sun groaned, scratching the back of his neck.

"You know, considering this place, I shouldn't be surprised," complained Neptune. In his defense, his experience at Beacon Academy so far hadn't been all that place. There was no way being threatened and then hurt by an angry blonde, and then having to answer for property damages received while stopping a White Fang collaborator was in the Top 10 of Neptune's experiences. Not even within the Top 1000.

"I mean, this shit is our job! How could we NOT cause a little damage on the way?" Sun ranted to the air, frustrated.

"Probably to keep up with looks. Hunting's got more political nowadays," answered Neptune.

"No fuckin' joke…" Sun grumbled in agreement.

At that, Sun shoved his hands in his pockets, pouting. Sure, property damage was an integral part of being a loose-cannon cop, but having to actually pay for that shit? It was unthinkable! They never had to pay for anything in movies and shows! Hell, if he was a movie cop, he could wreck forty cars and a helicopter before he even got a slap on the wrist! But no, one crushed fruit cart and a partially damaged, already shitty van and it was a damn financial witch hunt. Of course, in reality, it wasn't all that bad, but to Sun it was. Over-inflation was often the refuge of the incredulous, after all.

The street lamps hummed to life above the pair's heads. Not that it mattered much. The sun had barely just gone into sunset. But, it did make Sun and Neptune think that they were going to be stuck in an office until late at night. What a pleasant thought.

A weird silence came across the duo again. Sun kicked at a small pebble, and Neptune ran his tongue around his mouth. Was there really anything else to say about their situation? Not particularly. They both knew what they were in for. And, if things went worse for them, so would their wallets/bank accounts.

Neptune nearly paled at the thought. Contrary to his normal appearance, he was actually running out of money. His trident/rifle cost a LOT in upkeep and repairs, and his expensive, good looking clothes weren't going to dry-clean themselves. He could always beg relatives for money. But, that probably wasn't going to help his reputation that much. Neptune already had a reputation in his family for being kind of aloof to his cousins. His aunt and uncle didn't really appreciate that. Not only that, but Neptune wasn't willing to grovel for lien. So, he wasn't in any position to pay from his own pocket/student account for damages.

Anxiously, Neptune reached into his pocket and fumbled with the d20. He could really use any luck it could grant him right now.

Sun was in his own world as he and his partner walked into the building where Ozpin's office was located. He couldn't help but wonder how he was going to try and talk his way out of this. If push came to shove, he could always do the thing that they always did in cop movies: hand in his badge, declare that he isn't staying away from this case, and storm out of the office. That was usually followed up by the chief reinstating the officer and letting him stay on. But, there was a small hitch with that plan. Sun didn't really have a badge to turn in, since he was a hunter, not a cop.

Sun's eyes blinked rapidly as he realized he didn't have a good game plan. Pressing the call button on the elevator, Sun figured he might as well just wing it up there. Glancing over at Neptune, he saw that his friend was lightly sweating. Well, at least his reaction was fitting.

_DING!_

The elevator doors opened, and Sun and Neptune stepped in. Well, if it was any solace, it wouldn't be the first time that the two of them had pissed off their superior. That thought lingered in their minds as the doors closed and the elevator climbed to Ozpin's office.

**xxx**

Professor Ozpin stared over his folded hands at the two students sitting across from his desk. From what he could tell, they were rather nervous about being called up here. As they should be. Over the past few months, Beacon Academy had to pay for a lot for damages to private and public property. Hell, they had to cancel the Beacon Academy dance to pay for the expenses on the partially destroyed aquarium. They were still paying off those expenses. That was the last time any students were going to be sent there for extra credit. That much was for sure. There was no way the school could pay for that many destroyed cars again.

So, he was more than ready to hear just WHY Beacon now had to pay for a destroyed fruit cart and car repairs.

Unfolding his hands, Ozpin reached to the side of his desk and pulled up a folder. Showing it to the pair, he asked, "Mr. Wukong, Mr. Vasilias, could you tell me what we're paying for this time?"

Sun and Neptune looked at each other. Neither of them had a real clue on what to do here. "A… fruit cart…" Sun grumbled.

"And?" pressed Ozpin.

"And a van," Sun replied.

Ozpin dropped the folder and leaned back into his desk chair. "Now, I'm sure the both of you aware on what we do here, right? What's the point of a hunter?"

Neptune piped up. "We're supposed to protect the kingdom and the people who live in it."

"Right. Now, how exactly is that achieved by destroying private and public property?" Ozpin questioned.

"Hey, it wasn't like we had a choice!" Sun butted in. "The guy's the one who led us on that chase!"

Ozpin sat back a little. "True. Still, there's the issue of reparations. Do you understand how strained this academy's finances are this year? We had to cancel more than enough programs to cover damages. We can't stand to drain our reserves any further," he lectured.

"What would ya have us do? Let him go?" bit Sun.

"What I'm trying to get at is that you two aren't careful with your assignment," Ozpin mused.

"Hold on, hold on. Are you taking us off of the force?" Neptune asked.

"Not entirely, no," Ozpin said. "Your assignment is being put on hiatus, and you're going to receive marks on your academic records."

"You can't do that!" 'You're fucking with me!" Neptune and Sun protested at the same time.

Ozpin held his tongue. He was more than tempted to call out the unnecessary swearing. But, he had to handle this in a professional manner. "Once you two prove yourselves responsible, then those marks can be removed. Unless you want to be the ones to pay for the costs."

That made Sun and Neptune grow quiet. That threat hung over them like the blade of a guillotine. They would either get out of this with their money or academic records intact. But not both.

"Fine. Whatever," Sun growled, standing up. "But you're NOT gettin' me away from this case, chief." At that, Sun spun on his heel and walked out of the office.

As Sun walked through the doors, Neptune and Ozpin watched him leave. Awkwardly, Neptune turned to Ozpin and said, "Uh… Sorry about his behavior, sir."

"It's fine. You're dismissed," Ozpin said, waving Neptune away.

Stiffly, Neptune got out of his chair and scurried after his partner. Well, that meeting certainly took an unexpected turn for him.

As the door closed behind Neptune, Ozpin grabbed his mug and turned his chair around. Staring out the window, he looked out across the dusk covered campus. Taking a swig from the mug, Ozpin wondered where exactly all of his careful financial planning went all wrong. Did he miss a major bill? Were his students just growing more and more reckless? And why did Sun Wukong call him chief?

Those were questions that would keep him up that night.

**xxx**

**Yep, that's certainly a case of reality ensuing. You could get away with almost anything in cop movies. Except in Hot Fuzz. They had to actually deal with all the paperwork and stuff after the climax. But, how will the plot unfold from here now that those two were taken off the force? Well, I'm sure you can figure out how a good chunk of it can go, if you've watched enough cop shows. But, that's part of the fun! So, tell me what you think of the story so far in the reviews section!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm staying frosty!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Forming Up The Investigation Team

**Who's the writer private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks?**

**_Draigg!_**

**Damn right! Who is the man who would risk his neck for his writer man?**

**_Draigg!_**

**Can you dig it? Who's the writer who won't cop out, when there's danger all about?**

**_Draigg!_**

**Right on. They say this cat is a bad motherf—**

**_Shut your mouth!_**

**I'm talking 'bout The Draigg!**

**_Then we can dig it._**

**He's a complicated man, but no one understands him but his woman!**

**_The Draigg!_**

******xxx**

Fridays usually were a day that made everyone happy. It was a sign of the end of the week, and all the frustrations and troubles that came with it. But not for Sun Wukong, though. In fact, he was in quite the opposite mood.

Instead of eating his lunch like a regular person, he simply settled for picking at his bowl of bacon mac and cheese with his fork. If one looked closely enough, they would have seen that his appearance was almost the same as it was the other morning. However, Sun wasn't depressed this time around.

Sun was plotting.

His determination replaced his sour attitude. Just because he had been taken off from the junior detective program, that didn't mean he was going to give up on the case that he stumbled upon. Catching a White Fang member with a mysterious van full of suspicious things? There was no way that didn't mean something. So, the only solution was to work outside the law to figure out what that guy's deal was. There was no way he wasn't up to something. The White Fang stuff and all the gardening/construction stuff he saw in the back could only mean something…

Sun planted his fork in the bowl. He just couldn't fit the pieces together! What would those creepy Faunus cult guys want with that stuff? Wait, did he ask Neptune if he saw anything else in the back of the van?

"Hey, Nep," Sun said, getting his partner's attention. "Did ya see anything weird in that one guy's van?"

"You're still on about that? Just drop it," Neptune sighed.

"Just answer the question…" Sun replied. He was in no mood to argue.

Sensing how serious Sun was, Neptune said, "Yeah… Now that I think about it, there was something. In a box there were these weird pin things, all lined up neatly. They must've been easy to break, 'cause the box was padded."

Sun nodded as he took in this info. "Anything else?"

"Nothing beyond all the wires, piping, and fertilizer," reported Neptune. Then, as he finished his sentence, something clicked. Sun must have realized something similar, because he looked at Neptune with shocked realization.

"You can build a bomb using that…" Sun started.

"…And you use detonator pins to blow it up," finished Neptune.

"Oh, SHIT!" the pair said at the same time.

"They're gonna build a bomb!" Sun exclaimed.

"No shit! What'd we do now?!" cried Neptune.

"We need to stop 'em, that's what!" was Sun's reply.

"How? We're not cops anymore, and we can't use our badges, anyway. They took those back, remember?" Neptune pointed out.

Sun scratched his chin as he thought. True, he couldn't even pretend to be a cop anymore. He didn't even have the standard-issue service gun anymore. But, like many of his inspirations in the media world, being kicked out of the police force wasn't going to stop him from saving the city and stopping the evil terrorist's plot. Now that he thought about it, it would be for the best if he was shirtless while he did it. Or at least wearing a thin tank top. Wait, now he was getting off track.

"We don't need the cops," Sun said, determined. "We're motherfuckin' hunters! We've got the shit we need to get it done!"

"I think we're gonna need more than just the two of us. I mean, we're taking on the White Fang, man!" Neptune nervously said.

Sun smiled. "Don't worry, I think we got EXACTLY who we need 'round here."

**xxx**

A little while later, the (ex-cop) duo stood in front of the plain white door. Judging by their class schedule, the team this room belonged to should be in there. Putting on his best smile, Sun knocked on the door. Then, he elbowed Neptune to do the same as him. Picking up on his signal, Neptune also put on his most charming smile.

"Just a minute!" a voice called from the other side.

The pair waited patiently for the door to open. After all, it was rude to push the people they wanted to get help from.

The latch of the door clicked open, and it swung on its hinges. Yang stood in the doorway, surprised to see the two of them. "Oh, 'sup Sun!". When she turned to face Neptune, her face went a little blank. "And you brought…" she trailed off, clearly not remembering Neptune's name.

"It's Neptune…" the blue(?) haired hunter sighed. His smile dropped a little because of that.

"Whatever. So, what're you two doing here?" Yang asked. Behind her, Sun and Neptune could see someone creeping up on Yang. The assailant suddenly revealed herself as she tickled Yang's ribs.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Ruby laughed as she and her sister tumbled to the ground.

"D-don't think HEhe I'm done! HA!" Yang cried as she tumbled around the floor with her sister, also tickling her too. Sun and Neptune simply raised their eyebrows at the laughing heap on the floor.

"Seriously? Let them in! Don't just leave them out there!" a voice scolded the sisters. Neptune's ears perked up. He recognized that voice!

Curious, he took the initiative and stepped inside. He was greeted by some girl in a white dress. Wait! It was that one girl who stood him up as he went to get her coffee that one time!

"Sorry about…" the girl trailed off as she also recognized Neptune. "Oh…" she muttered to herself.

The two stared at each other awkwardly as Sun walked into the room. "What's the matter, Neptune? Ya know Weiss already?" he asked.

"Weiss? That's your name?" parroted Neptune.

"Yeah…" Weiss mumbled. Man, she hated being caught like this. She sort of expected to never see this teal-haired guy again after she slipped away.

"Priceless," Blake dryly commented over from the corner, not even looking up from her book.

Now Neptune's head was spinning. How the hell did he somehow manage to meet most of the members of this team separately? Was this just a coincidence, divine intervention, or what? Just about the only person Neptune hadn't met before was that one girl with the red cloak, who was still wrestling around with the blonde. Wow, today was really shaping up to be weird.

Sun turned away from the incredibly awkward and confused Neptune. He was a big boy, he could sort it out for himself. But right now, he needed to focus on his recruitment mission. So, Sun walked over to Blake's bunk and plopped down next to her. "I gotta favor to ask," he bluntly stated.

"What is it?" Blake asked, still not looking up from her book.

"Actually, it kinda concerns all of ya," Sun continued.

"All of us?' Weiss asked, having overheard.

"Yeah," stated Sun. "Mind getting Ruby and Yang over here?"

Nodding, Weiss walked over to the sisterly pile of giggles and tried to separate the two. "Both of you are done! Now stop this childish game already!" she chided.

Pouting, Ruby gave one last tickle and stood up. Yang followed suit, her tongue in her cheek. "I was about to win…" Ruby whined.

"Not now, Ruby. You and Yang can finish this later," Weiss said.

"Party pooper," Yang added. All she got was a scowl form Weiss in return.

Facing the group, Sun announced, "We sorta need a favor from you guys."

"That depends," Weiss immediately said.

Poking her, Ruby said, "Weiss, he didn't even tell us what it was yet."

"I know, Ruby. I just wanted to get that out of the way," Weiss responded.

"Can I continue?" Sun dryly asked.

"Go ahead," replied Weiss, not picking up on the dryness.

"Anyway, to make a long story short, we found a White Fang bomber when we were cops. But, since we ain't cops anymore, we kinda need your help. I mean, we gotta stop 'em! Who knows what they were planning to bomb!" spoke Sun.

That made Blake drop her book and stand up. "The White Fang ALWAYS has something up their sleeves. I can't stand by and just allow them to get away with this!" Turning to Sun, she decided, "I'm in."

Sun was a little surprised by this. "Really? Huh, I thought that you'd be burned out about the White Fang. Like, since the last time."

"No. I want to see them don for, no matter the cost. I'm more than ready to face them," declared Blake.

Neptune, having shoved aside his earlier confusion, decided to chime in. "Well, we're not ready to confront them yet. We need to figure out what they want a bomb for and where they're hiding out. All we have are pieces, not the full picture."

Ruby piped up, "Well, Blake might know where they are. Right?"

"I wouldn't know. They change temporary bases so often, that I can't even say where they are in the city," Blake said with a sigh.

"That's where you guys come in," explained Sun. "We need you guy's help to find them. Think you can help us find them and smash in their shit?"

Yang was the first to go up. "Well… I guess if Blake's gonna go, so am I. I'm in!"

"Yeah! For truth and justice and stuff!" Ruby cheered, also lending her support to Sun and Blake.

Now it was Weiss' turn to speak up. She had her lips pressed together in thought. Eventually, she said, "What time are you planning to have us help you? I have a psychiatrist appointment on Sunday."

"Seriously?" spat Blake. "You can't put that aside for the good of everyone?"

"Hey, I pay good money to see Doctor Schreber," defended Weiss. Her voice got lower as she added, "And you know how I am without help…"

Ruby tugged at her girlfriend's sleeve. "C'moooooonnnnn Weiss… Please…?" Then, taking a page from her own usual advice, she flashed her wounded puppy eyes at Weiss.

"Don't you… aaaaarrrrggghhhhh! Fine! Fine. I'll do it," Weiss final relented. Turning to Sun, she pointed at him and ordered, "But if it's on Sunday at eleven o'clock, then I'm not showing up."

"Pfft, sure," agreed Sun. Turning to face everyone, he said, "So, we're thinking about starting tomorrow morning. We've got a lot of ground to cover if we wanna stop the White Fang. So, if we can meet by the air docks 'bout nine o'clock, I think we can do a lot."

Yang gave off a confident grin. "I think I know just the guy to talk to…"

"And I'm willing to help however I can," Blake added.

"Great!" beamed Sun. "We're stop those sons of bitches!"

"Yeah! Go team!" Ruby cried, pumping her fist in the air. Lowering her arm, she turned to her teammates. "Banzai?" she suggested.

"I'm not in the—" "Of course!". Weiss' shooting down of the suggestion was immediately interrupted by Yang. Great, now she would have to do it. It was an embarrassing gesture. But, if it made Ruby happy…

"On three everyone! One! Two! THREE!"

"Banzai!" Team RWBY cheered and pumped their arms in varying levels of interest. Yang and Ruby genuinely smiled during it, Blake couldn't help but smirk a little, and Weiss flatly said it as she raised her arm.

Sun grinned at their little show. Neptune, however, was feeling really lost and confused again. Was he missing some sort of in-joke here? Man, he was getting more mixed up by standing in this room by the minute.

In Sun's mind he was more than pleased with himself. Not only was he going to be saving the city from a White Fang bomb plot, but he was also going to get some help from some of the most trustworthy people he knew. They might all get a key to the city for this! Hell, they might get the Cross of Valor!

Man, knowing and having a crew of badass not-cops sure had its perks.

Crime, look out!

**xxx**

**If you hadn't picked it up from earlier, I'm saying that I'm pretty much Shaft. Except I'm not black. Or a private investigator. Or in shape. So, I'm pretty much nothing like Shaft at all. But, hey, at least I'm cool! …I think. Anyway, enough of my rambling. How about you leave me a kind review about this story? Because we're friends, right? Cool? Cool.**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm coming back later!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Not Exactly A Shopping Montage

**Was it all just a dream? Or maybe a vision? …You know, I get the feeling that I've used this intro before. But, I really don't care. I'm just a sucker for The Vision of Escaflowne. Not so much the Escaflowne movie, but I'm willing to appreciate it's animation quality and soundtrack. Anyway, let's get back to talking about RWBY. More specifically, the story I'm writing about it. Go ahead and read it. I'll be waiting at the bottom of the page.**

**xxx**

That Saturday morning, Roman Torchwick was frustrated beyond belief. Plain and simple.

After getting word from the street that the bomb maker he hired had gotten in a wreck and arrested by the cops, he had been in a rush to somehow find a way to fill in the gap. Really, Roman's only options were to either hire another bomb maker, or build a bomb himself. Neither of them were the best option, for a few reasons. He couldn't find a good bomb maker on such short notice, and the best thing Roman knew how to build resembling a bomb was something that would at most blow open a wall. He couldn't make anything big enough that the Shithead Squad would accept.

If he wasn't wearing his excellent hat right now, Roman would be ripping out his finely treated hair. He stared at his office desk in bitter anger as he thought. "_How the hell am I supposed to deal with this shit?! Ms. Fussy-bitches and her asshole kids are going to be back any minute! Oh, I knew I should have gone out of town to hire someone…_"

The door to Roman's office opened. Looking up, he sighed a little with relief. It wasn't Lady Fire Wench and the Shit Eating Fun Club. It was only his pint-sized partner, Neo. As per her usual tradition, she had come into the office that morning for her early day bowl of ice cream. It was one of the more important ice cream bowls of the day. Hanging her parasol on the nearby coatrack, she skipped passed the slouching Roman and to the mini-fridge in the corner.

"Hello to you too," Roman snarked at Neo. Looking out of the corner of his vision, he saw Neo simply shrug in response. To be fair, she couldn't even say hello, anyway. "Eating your daily food groups?" he sneered.

Neo ignored him as she scooped generous helpings of pistachio ice cream into a spare plastic container. With a smile on her face, she plopped down into the chair across from Roman's desk. Eagerly, she began to shovel spoonful after spoonful of delicious dairy treat into her mouth. She could feel Roman stare at her, but she didn't care. She had a nice day planned out today: eating ice cream and using Roman's office computer to look up things that would probably get him on some sort of watch list. Well, if the internet connection was faster than 3 baud today. For someone who stole and fenced a lot of valuable stuff, Roman sure didn't spring for a decent internet service for his hideout.

Roman didn't know how Neo could stay so serene. How was she not completely pissed off at the annoying assholes who kept on kicking the tow of them around dumbfounded him. Hell, maybe she had an idea on what to do. She sure was calmer than him.

"Hey, Dairy Queen. Answer me something," Roman suddenly said.

Hearing that nickname made Neo look up from her breakfast. "…?"

"You wouldn't happen to know how to build a big bomb, would you?" asked Roman.

Neo tapped her chin in exaggerated thought. Then, with a shake of her head, she went back to eating her ice cream.

"Figures…" Roman mumbled. Roman scratched the back of his head. Just what the hell could he do? Maybe he could just by an already made bomb. Yet again, in his experience, that was always a 50/50 gamble. Maybe someone added an extra pinch of the wrong chemical, or set the detonator off by a few seconds. Buying a bomb from an arms dealer was about as reliable as a lawyer couldn't get your harpy of an ex to stop pressing you for child support for a kid that wasn't even yours. In short, not very.

"_Meh. Fuck it. If I'm lucky, the bomb'll blow up Captain Bitchface and those fuckhead kids,_" Roman decided in his mind. He was getting paid for the job to get done, not for it to be done well. As long as they didn't notice, then he was more or less free to do whatever the hell he wanted with his objectives.

Standing up, Roman walked over to the coatrack to grab his hung-up cane. "C'mon, Neo. We're going shopping," he announced.

"…?" he heard Neo ask.

"Yeah, sure, we can get some on the way. Now come on," said Roman.

Excitedly, Neo scarfed down the remaining ice cream in her bowl. Roman watched on, amazed. How could she possibly eat ice cream that quickly without getting a brain freeze? It was like one of the mysteries of the universe. Well, Neo did eat a lot of ice cream, so maybe she just built up a tolerance to it. Or, she did get brain freeze, and she was a good enough of an actor to hide it. All of this simply baffled Roman.

Neo got out of her chair and happily skipped over to the door, grabbing her parasol off of the coatrack on the way. Standing in front of Roman, she looked incredibly excited to be going shopping. Most likely because Roman promised her ice cream. Smiling, she gave Roman a small, quick hug.

Roman grew stiff when Neo hugged him. "Yeah, yeah… Let's just go…" he mumbled. He just couldn't handle how cute Neo could be some times. Sure, she was a bloodthirsty would-be murderer and thief, but damn, she was adorable. She was like a person sized porcelain figurine.

Twirling his cane, Roman walked beside Neo out of the warehouse. But, just as he was about to walk out to the parking lot, he remembered that the White Fang members that worked here were fucking incompetent.

"Perry!" Roman called out. At least that one Faunus was less idiotic than the others. And, he actually knew how to make a cup of coffee without grounds in it. That made Perry his unofficial third in command.

A man in a White Fang uniform with glasses over his mask jogged up to Roman. "Yes sir?" he asked.

"I'm going out for a bit," Roman said. "Make sure your furry friends don't blow the joint up, okay?"

Perry nodded. "Right."

As Roman and Neo waked away, Roman called over his shoulder, "And be sure to pick up some food! I'm in the mood for pizza today!"

"R-right!" complied Perry.

As Neo and Roman left the warehouse area, Perry groaned to himself. Why did Roman ask for pizza? Now he'd have to get all different kinds, just to make everyone happy. He knew well enough that some of his brothers and sisters in arms were carnivores, vegetarians, or omnivores. Maybe he could ask Roman for a ride to the closest pizza joint—

Nope, Roman's car just drove past the window. Sighing, Perry walked over to where the rest of his squad mates were hanging around. Right now, they were all listening to the rather beefy Lieutenant about how he would kill a Schnee, given the chance.

"-He'd be nothing but a pile of meat on the floor when I'm done," the Lieutenant growled. Then, noticing Perry walk up, he questioned, "What do you want?"

"I'm, uh, going to get pizza. What do you all w-want?" Perry stuttered.

"Garlic and spinach."

"Chicken with white sauce."

"Bacon, sausage, and pepperoni."

"Olives. Nothing but olives."

"Pineapple with teriyaki beef."

The Lieutenant was the last to respond. "Whatever, I'm not hungry."

Perry tried his best to memorize the order list. "Okay… anyone want to lend me some cash?"

That didn't get a response from anybody.

"Right…" Perry grumbled as he turned and left the group. For an order that big, it'd probably take a while. At least it was early enough to avoid the lunch rush.

As he walked over to his bicycle, Perry took off his glasses and removed his mask. Then, replacing his glasses, he shoved the white mask in his pocket. He wouldn't want to be caught that easily.

Perry undid the lock on his bike. Man, it was going to be tricky to fit all of those pizzas on the back. Oh well, at least this was a way easier job than what some of the other White Fang members had. Anything was better than being stuck in the Grimm Wilds, guarding a place nobody would ever find. Or, going to local malls to recruit more members. The last thing he heard about that, some guys got tortured for not recruiting anybody in a week. Being the designated gofer for this group wasn't all that bad.

Sighing, Perry pedaled off, heading away from the warehouse and down the street.

**xxx**

The town car pulled up to a… respectable place of business. A totally legitimate business. Certainly not one that sold weapons and information out of the back. It was just a nightclub, plain and simple. One that just happened to be run by a man who had connections in Vale City's underground network. Hei "Junior" Xiong was the man to go to if you wanted only the finest weapons, enforcers, and blackmail materials… at a price, of course.

Roman and Neo climbed out of the car and strolled towards the entrance. Not even looking in the direction of the valet, Roman tossed his keys at him and said, "Not a scratch, pretty boy."

He didn't wait for an answer as he and Neo walked into the club. Currently, it wasn't open for business. Well, not the legal kind, anyway. For the black market, the club never really closed. After all, what kind of nightclub is open for the day? It goes against what kind of club it is.

Striding up to the bar, Roman and Neo sat in the stools. For Neo, it was a little harder to do. Her (lack) of height was making it rather hard to get on it. But, after a minute of determined climbing, she managed to get onto the seat, and tried to ignore the undignified scenario that just occurred.

Junior recognized his frequent customers right away. Sure, he wasn't the biggest fan of the well-dressed thief, but he paid in good, hard lien. "Anything to drink?" the large, well-dressed man said, pushing up his red sunglasses.

"Nah, I'm on the clock today. I'm just interested in shopping," Roman said with a calm wave of his hand.

Junior looked over the top of his shades. "For what, exactly?"

"Candy," sneered Roman. "Or… something a bit more useful."

"…I'm not letting you hire any more of my men," Junior immediately said. The last time he let Roman use some of his enforcers, ALL of them came back with horrible injuries. And even then, they still had a bad chance of being beaten up here in the club, whether it be from angry drunks, or chesty blonde girls trying to look for info. Because of that, his current employee rental service was on hold.

"As if I'd hire those wastes of skin again…" Roman noted.

Junior furrowed his brow at the insult. "…Looks like my services just went up forty percent."

"Tsk tsk. Neo?" Roman said, gesturing to his partner.

Neo immediately understood what Roman wanted done. She too was thinking of it herself. With one smooth motion, she unhooked the latch on her parasol, and drew her long stiletto. She pointed it at Junior's throat with a sick grin. Maybe she would get her fix for blood after all.

Naturally, Junior's men sprang to his defense. The two men stocking the bottles drew shotguns from under the bar counter, the DJ over at the mixing booth pulled out a rocket launcher, the janitor mopping the floor pulled a massive assault rifle with an underslung flamethrower out of his cleaning cart, and Junior's personal guards, the Malachite twins, dove out of nowhere, ready to fight the offending Roman and Neo.

The red clad twin, Miltia, pointed her clawed gauntlets at the back of Roman's head. "Like, call her off," she ordered.

The white dressed twin, Melanie, took a crane kick stance and got ready to kick with her bladed heels. "Listen, guy."

Roman didn't let the excessive amount of weapons pointed at him intimate him. "Ten percent," he calmly offered.

"Thirty five," counter-offered Junior.

"Twenty," was Roman's response.

"Thirty. You can leave with less money or your life," was Junior's final offer.

"…Deal," Roman agreed. At that, Junior nodded, and immediately everyone on Junior's payroll lowered their weapons. On his side, Roman made Neo lower and put away her blade. She couldn't help but pout as she did, though. She wanted her blood and pain, damn it!

"I'm glad we could come to terms," Junior dryly remarked. With a nod of his head, he said, "Come to the back."

Roman and Neo slid out of their seats, and followed Junior behind a nearby door. The three of them passed through the general storage area, until they entered the liquor storage room. With a memorized motion, Junior pressed three hidden buttons behind a large wine rack. With a pop and a click, the rack swung on it's hidden hinges to reveal a secret door. Junior then took out a ring of key cards out of his pocket and stuck one into the card scanner near the door handle. The light on the scanner flashed green, and the door clicked open.

Roman, Neo, and Junior entered a room that could be easily described as a gun-nut's wet dream. There was every type of conceivable weapon stored in there. Rifled lightning casters. Quad-barreled shotguns. Revolvers that shoot pure crystals of dust. If you could imagine it, you could find it. And buy it, for the right price.

Neo's jaw dropped. She had never been in here before! Immediately, like a kid in a candy store, she dashed over to one of the display tables and began to browse the bladed weapon selection. Well, not exactly. More like a height challenged sadist making a visit to a weapon dealer. But the point remained the same.

As Neo gushed over the double tomahawk that caught her eye, Roman began to tell Junior what he was interested in. "I'm looking for a bomb. Probably the biggest one you have, preferably," he said breezily.

Junior scratched his beard. "Well, the blocks of plastic explosive are over there," he said, pointing to a stack of crates in the corner, "…But I'm not sure that's up your alley."

"Well, would you have one that's already assembled?" Roman inquired.

"Hmmm… well, not _exactly…_" mused Junior. "…But I can sell you the parts."

"Parts?" Roman parroted.

"Yeah. It'll come with assembly instructions and everything," Junior explained.

"…Tell me more," Roman said, interested.

With a smirk, Junior led Roman over to a steel case. Opening it, he showed his potential buyer the necessary parts and tools. "It's pretty easy. The detonators and timers are already included, and all you need to do is put together the case and wiring. Easy as that."

Roman traced his finger over the brim of his hat and smiled. "I'm liking it. You got enough for five?" he asked.

"More than enough," was Junior's response.

"I'll take it!" Roman declared before devolving into a fit of sinister laughter. Everything had gone his way! "Hahahahahahaha—huh?" Roman was cut off by a tug at his sleeve. With the most adorable grin, Neo waved around the double tomahawk, clearly pleading for him to buy it for her.

"Fine," Roman sighed, the wind taken out of his sails. "We'll take that, too."

Junior pushed up his shades by the bridge and offered out his hand. Taking it, Roman firmly shook. Their deal was now finalized, an agreement between gentlemen.

Roman finally had the bombs he needed (and a double tomahawk to boot).

**xxx**

**So, now the real threat is kicked off. All it is now is a matter of time. But, can our heroes stop the White Fang in time? Can they save the city? And can they find the cure for boneitis? Find out at least two of three of these answers in the continuing adventures in: You're Under Arrest!**

**And this has been your helpful narrator, The Draigg, and I'm signing off for now!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Hunters On The Prowl

**Hey folks! It's The Draigg here! Um… I'm having a hard time thinking of an entertaining author's note to type here. Well, maybe you'll enjoy how meta this is getting. I'm So Meta, Even This Acronym. Ha! It's fun! Thanks XKCD, for inventing that joke which I just blatantly stole! Now, let's get to the chapter, before I get fined for copyright reasons, huh?**

**xxx**

Meanwhile, around the time that Roman and Neo just bought a bunch of fancy (and deadly) new toys from Junior, a bunch of Beacon Academy students just arrived in Vale City. To be more specific, Sun, Neptune, Weiss, Blake, and Ruby had just stepped off of the latest airship to arrive at the air dock.

Looking around, Neptune asked, "Hey, where's Yang?"

This answer came with the loud rumble of a high-performance engine. Blasting out of the cargo bay opening, Yang rode her motorcycle, the Bumblebee, up the gathered group and screeched to a halt. "'Sup, ladies?" she greeted.

"Wait, you're telling me we could've drove here?" Neptune asked the air. Heck, if only two people rode from Beacon to Vale City, the he would have certainly paid less for the airship tickets. Great…

"It's easier to just put it on the ship," Yang said with a wave of her hand. Then, kicking down the kickstand, Yang got off the bike and turned to Sun. "So, what're we doing, Mr. Officer?"

Sun motioned for everyone to gather around him. Once everyone did so, he began to explain, "We're gonna need some info on what the hell the White Fang wants with a bomb. Yang, ya said ya knew someone with their ear to the ground?"

"Right, I can go there," Yang replied.

"Good. I'll go with you. Also, we should probably try to see the bomber. I think his name was… Kira. Yoshikage Kira. I think he's at Vale General… so, who wants to go there?" asked Sun.

"I'll go," Blake volunteered.

"I'll go with her," Neptune added. Blake shot him a weird look, but quickly dropped it. She was still feeling a little resentment over the first time they had met. But, she was willing to put aside hatred for the sake of stopping the White Fang.

"Groovy…" Sun muttered. "And, uh, Weiss n' Ruby? Just uh… see if anyone bought bomb stuff. You know what I mean?"

"Not really," Weiss said.

"Uh… metal parts… fertilizer… wiring. A bunch of hardware stores should have that stuff around. Check in a few, to see if anyone bought that stuff at the same time," ordered Sun.

"Got it!" replied Ruby, giving Sun a goofy salute.

"Great! Now, guys, let's get out there!" Sun cried, pumping his fist in preemptive victory.

"Yeah!" Yang and Ruby cheered. All they got from anyone else was nods of approval.

Getting ready to go, Yang walked over to the Bumblebee and swung a leg over the seat. Kicking up the kickstand, Yang patted on the back of the seat. "C'mon, monkey boy, you're ridin' bitch."

Sun smirked a little at the joke he was about to make. "I didn't know I was Neptune," he teased.

That made Neptune snap a little. "Who're you calling a bitch, bitch?!"

"Oh, you," Sun said, tying best not to laugh.

"I'm not a bitch!" Neptune yelled.

"…You're kinda a bitch," Yang added.

"I didn't ask you! Just… ride out of here already!" cried Neptune, completely exasperated.

Sun walked over to the Bumblebee and got on the back. Holding onto Yang's waist, he said, "See ya later, bitch booooooyyyyy!" At that, Yang and Sun sped off, leaving only a trail of laughter and tire marks behind.

Neptune could feel a few veins pop in his head as he heard some snickering behind him. Turing to the offender, he saw Blake cover up her chuckling with her hand. "Not a word… Let's just go," he growled.

Spinning on his heel, Neptune began to stomp down the street. Blake followed after him, but she called out to Ruby and Blake, "I'll call if we find anything!"

"Got it!" Ruby yelled back.

Soon enough, Weiss and Ruby were left all alone. They were left to their own devices to find where one could buy a bunch of bomb-making materials. Unfortunately, that in of itself wasn't a lot to go off of. There were more than enough hardware stores in Vale City's city limits, so the White Rose pair had no real place to start.

"So… what now?" Ruby asked Weiss.

"I have no idea," the white haired girl admitted.

The area around the empty dock grew awkwardly quiet. The pair noticed a random tumbleweed blow past with the breeze. Which was odd, considering there was no vacant lots nearby. Ruby rubbed the toe of her left boot on the pavement.

"S-sure is windy today…" she stiffly stated.

Weiss and Ruby suddenly came down with the weirdest case of deja-vu. Oh well. But, in all seriousness, they needed to do something to save their sanity from this awkwardness.

"…Want to get something to eat?" Weiss offered.

That made Ruby perk up. "Crepes? I want a cheese crepe!" she said, her mouth filling with saliva.

Weiss nodded. "That sounds good," she agreed. That sounded pretty good to her as well. She could also use a fresh cup of coffee too.

Ruby slipped her hand into Weiss' which made her girlfriend blush a little. With a gentle smile, Ruby urged Weiss to come with her. With that, the pair left the air dock, in search of a place to have time to themselves.

**xxx**

Meanwhile, speeding down the street was a less touching scene. Sun clung tightly to Yang's waist as she gunned the Bumblebee down the freeway, swerving around cars and pushing the speed limit at every opportunity. Yang, even though she was getting her rider's high, couldn't help but feel a little awkward. Or rather, something felt awkward against her. Yang understood why Sun had a raging erection right now, with holding someone as hot as her and riding a speeding a motorcycle and all. Still, it wasn't like she was expecting for Sun to get an adrenaline boner at all.

"_Don't think about his dick… don't think about his dick… don't think about his dick… Man, it's really stiff… Damn it! I thought about it,_" was Yang's looped thought process as the blonde-headed pair rode the bike. A few minutes of dick-related awkwardness later, the pair drove off of the freeway ramp and into the seedier downtown area of Vale City.

Sun tried to yell over the rushing wind. "Hey! Where is this place, anyway?!"

"Huh?!" Yang yelled back.

"What?!" Sun shouted back.

"Say that again!"

"Eh?!"

"What?!"

"What?!"

"How 'bout you slow down!"

"Should I slow down?!"

"What?!"

"What?!"

That routine continued as Yang broke the speed limit down the streets of inner-city Vale City.

**xxx**

Meanwhile, Neptune and Blake were engaged in a conversation as the y walked down the street. Well, Neptune was. Not so much for Blake. She was only half-listening to his frustrated ranting.

"—I'm a bitch?! Seriously, Sun's a bigger bitch than me. You know, he asked me to kill a spider the other day. It was just sitting there on the window. What kind of man can't kill a spider? Seriously!" Neptune spewed out at Blake.

"Uh-huh…" Blake mumbled, paying more attention to her open scroll. At that point, her attention levels were at a severe low. She only picked up the parts where she should chime in, to sound like she was listening. Her interest was more captured by the forum she was browsing. Blake was logged on to a Ninjas of Love discussion forum. And, there was someone wrong on the internet, which couldn't stand uncorrected. What kind of scrub could forget the part where the shogun sent the Shiro to the land of Wuxia? A real scrub, that's who.

"—Hey, are you even listening?" Neptune suddenly asked.

"Uh-huh," Blake grunted again.

Suddenly, Blake could feel Neptune look over her shoulder. Defensively, Blake closed her scroll and slipped it into her pocket. "Didn't your mom teach you about personal space?" she spat.

"You know, it's not cool to ignore someone," Neptune flatly pointed out.

"Well, it's not cool to read other people's scrolls," Blake retorted.

"So… ninjas, huh?" Neptune said, trying to change the flow of conversation.

That made Blake cautiously guarded. "What's it to you?" she asked.

"Well, let's just say I rolled my die to a ninja book before," said Neptune, feeling the d20 in his pocket.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "…I'm not following."

"You ever roleplay?" Neptune asked.

"…Depends on what you mean by that," Blake answered. Whether he meant sexual roleplay or RPG style gaming would change the tone of this conversation drastically.

"Like, tabletop stuff. You know, dungeons? That type of thing?" clarified Neptune.

"Oh!" Blake said. "Yeah, I did that once or twice."

In fact, Blake knew well enough of the world of tabletop RPG games. She was introduced to them when she needed to kill some time while she was a member of the White Fang. And, of course, her player character was a ninja/martial-artist. Those few games were pretty fun, from what she remembered. Still, from the looks of it, Neptune had many times more experience than her.

"What game did you play?" Neptune asked, his tone giving away his excitement.

"Uh… Warriors of Aldara, I think…" Blake struggled to remember.

"Oh yeah, I remember that! A beginner's game, but it's still good!" Neptune gushed.

"Beginner?" Blake repeated.

"Well, it's kinda easy… But, that doesn't mean it's not fun! I'm more into Darkest Dungeons or Shadowfall, though. Ever heard of those?" the blue(?) haired intellectual continued.

"No, not really," Blake answered.

"Well, Shadowfall's more of my favorite. It's a cyberpunk game, set in an alternate version of Atlas. You can get cybernetic implants, big guns, or whatever! Heck, you can even upload your mind into a robot body! Man, it's cool!" explained Neptune.

"Hmm… well, it sounds interesting," was Blake's polite reply. To be honest, if she was going to be into tabletop roleplaying games, she would prefer to stick to the ones with ninjas and samurai. But, it was more a matter of personal taste than anything.

"Yeah…" Neptune happily sighed. Then, perking back up, he asked, "Hey, wanna see my d20?"

"I guess?" Blake replied.

Neptune's grip tightened around the d20 he was playing with in his pocket. Pulling it out, he held it towards the sun with his thumb and index finger. He was presenting it more to himself than Blake. "It's my luck one," he explained. "I never leave home without it."

"Lucky, huh?" Blake said with a smirk. It was kind of funny how passionately Neptune was geeking out over this. At least he really loved his hobby.

"Yeah! I'm sure this thing saved my life more times than I can count," Neptune said dreamily, as if seeing it was making him relaxed. In his mind, he couldn't help but revere the Random Number God that held power over the die, and by extension, his luck. Praise be unto him.

"I'll bet," Blake purred, going along with his nerdy ramblings. This was getting more entertaining than arguing with a bunch of wrong people on the forum. Way, way more entertaining and amusing.

Tossing the d20 in the air, Neptune caught it as it fell towards the ground. He kept on playing catch with it, occasionally checking to see what number faced up when it landed in his hand. As it stood, he kept on rolling high number. Looks like the Random Number God was smiling upon his humble, well-worn die once again. Neptune knew he could use some of that precious luck today. Everyone was going to need that luck if they were going to stop the White Fang in time. Maybe he should do a few rolls with them in mind. After all, who couldn't use a few rolls for luck? Nobody, that's who.

With a heaving toss, Neptune tossed the die higher than normal in the air and caught it again. Opening his palm, he looked at the number result. Huh. It landed on a 10. That was the lowest roll he had gotten in a while. What that translated to in his mind was that their success could swing either way. Well, at least there was still a chance. A half chance, but that was still a chance.

A chance was all they needed to save the day, after all. It was all according to everyone's initiative.

**xxx**

**Yay! More numbery goodness! Seriously, a die with more than six sides is pretty cool. Ever seen one with more than two hundred? It's crazy. It's pretty much just a ball. Impractical as shit, but damn, they sure are cool. I suggest you look them up. Anyway, please roll for the initiative to leave a review for me! Roll any number equal or higher to than one, and you have to do it. So, get on it!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm rolling out of here… for now!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Tension In The Club

**Okay, time for another fun round of facts! Although I'm not going to be talking about oranges this time around, I WILL be talking about a different citrus fruit. That's right, lemons! More specifically, how lemons relate to fan fiction. Now, we all know what the lingo stands for, but do you know how it got it's name? Fun Fact: It comes from the hentai called Cream Lemon. See, you can learn a lot from reading my stuff! Sure, it isn't useful in society, but you're still better off knowing it. Anyway, let's top of our education with a fun story!**

**xxx**

Yang swerved the Bumblebee into the parking lot of Junior's club. Now, she knew the place was always full of assholes, so really anything went around there. Still, that didn't mean that she didn't get annoyed when shit happened to her.

As she sped towards the front parking spaces, she and Sun were nearly hit by a town car peeling out of it's parking space. As it sped off, Yang flipped off the car. "Learn to drive, fuckstick!" she shouted after the car. It showed no signs of slowing down, and just left the parking lot.

"Can nobody drive around here?" Sun dry commented.

"Nope…" Yang grumbled as she pulled into a close motorcycle space. She bet the guy in that town car was a real fucking prick, too. What an asshole.

Sun got off the bike first, shaking his leg and tugging at his shorts. He needed to get Little Sun down a peg. He wouldn't be able to live it down if Yang saw his freshly pitched pants tent with a party inside.

Of course, his luck turned against him as Yang said, "Is that your gunchucks, or are you just glad to see me?" Sun blushed as Yang started to laugh and got off her bike.

"Maybe both?" Sun weakly offered.

"Sure, cowboy. Sure," Yang chuckled. She slapped Sun on the back for good measure.

Sun scraped together his dignity as he followed Yang through the doors of what he guessed was a club. The velvet ropes and red carpeting out in front kind of gave away what type of building this was. Still, this was where she was going to get information from?

As Sun pondered this, the blonde-haired pair strode through the automatic doors that separated the waiting area from the club proper. With the brazen confidence only an extremely attractive boxer or a fucking sloshed drunk could have, Yang shouted out, "Hey, boys! Remember me?"

Everyone in the club immediately paused in place as they took in who just walked in the door. Oh no, not again. Hopefully, they could put up a better fight this time. Quicker than Sun could tell, he and Yang were surrounded by several dozen goons all pointing guns at their faces. Wait, did that janitor have a fucking flamethrower attached to that death machine? And who the fuck were those two chicks with knives strapped to their limbs? All Sun could think about was how Yang sure took him to a weird place.

"Whoa, whoa, is that any way to greet a paying customer?" Yang said with a smirk. She knew these mooks couldn't touch her. She had beat their asses the last time she was here, and she knew she could do it again. Heck, she could stand to vent a little frustration on these guys.

As the crowd mobbed around Sun and Yang, Junior stepped back out onto the club floor. He was certainly feeling a bit better. He'd just gotten a fat stack of lien for cheap bomb parts from that Roman guy. Not only did he move his long-unsold inventory, but he got more money than what it was worth. So, he felt nothing could go wrong… until he noticed the mob gathered at the front entrance.

"Great…" he mumbled to himself. Striding up to the crowd, he barked, "Hey, what's the big idea here? I don't pay you to—". He cut himself off as he saw in between the cracks of his men who exactly had shown up.

Glaring, he said, "You gotta lot of nerve showing up here again, blondie,". At the sound of his voice, Junior's henchmen (and ladies) lowered their weapons to hear him talk.

"Hey, a girl's got needs, right? And I need something from you," Yang wryly said.

"A bullet to the head?" Junior threatened.

"Information," said Yang.

The crowd blinked at Yang's reply. Okay, so she WASN'T here to maim/beat the shit out of them. It was much easier to stomach the fact that she was a customer this time around, instead of destroying everything in her path. Much, much easier.

Junior tapped his foot briefly in thought. He couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of trap. But, he was feeling in a generous/greedy mood today. The stack of lien in his pocket could stand to use a few more friends. "Fine," he grunted, "Come to the bar, and we'll talk."

Smiling, Yang elbowed a tense Sun. "See, that's how it's done."

Yang strutted towards the bar where Junior waited for her. Sun followed after her, but he couldn't help but stare at the red and white dressed twins covered in knives. Noticing his staring, the pair fake-out lunged at him. Sun couldn't help but flinch, but he kept on walking to preserve his dignity.

Sliding next to the already seated Yang, Sun sat on a stool and leaned on the bar counter. "Can I get a drink?" he asked.

Junior looked at him over the rim of his red glasses. "I'd have to card you, boy," he said.

"I'll take that as a no…" Sun sighed.

Turning to Yang, Junior then asked, "Look, are you gonna buy info, or not? I've got a busy day, and I don't need some…" Junior made sure to look over Yang, "…Underage cocktease messing up my day."

Yang made a point to show her reaching into her pocket and pull out some lien. "Bombs. The White Fang's lookin' to make a big boom. I need the name of a guy lookin' to buy a bomb," she ordered, sliding the lien across to Junior. Reaching over, Junior took the lien.

"Well, I can't exactly say WHO bought some bombs… around here. But, I CAN say that this certain person bought enough parts to make five," Junior told the pair.

"And, uh, how much would it cost to get this name?" pushed Yang.

"Sorry, sugar. Can't say," Junior flatly stated.

Suddenly, Sun slammed his fist on the counter. "Don't fuckin' lie to me!" he shouted. "I know ya got a name, so spill it!"

Unintimidated, Junior looked at Yang. "Friend of yours?"

"Yeah," Yang flippantly replied. "So, about that name…"

Junior stood his ground. "Look, if I were to say, I'd lose any business cred I have. So, no. I won't give you a name."

"Fine, fine…" Yang said, raising her hands in defeat. Well, her part was done.

But, when Yang started to stand up, Sun suddenly said, "Hey, Junior, was it? How 'bout a bet?"

"Huh?" went both Yang and Junior at the same time.

"A bet. You know, wagering? Gambling? That sort of thing? You're a betting man, I can tell," Sun said with a cocky grin.

That sure got Junior's attention. Anybody involved in Vale City's underground worth their salt knew that Junior was one of the city's top bookies, in addition to his… less than legal enterprises. So, it was a safe thing to say that Junior liked to gamble from time to time.

"…I'm listening," Junior cautiously stated.

"Great… Mind getting a drink and one glass?" requested Sun.

Interested in where this guy was going with this, Junior went to grab some booze and a clean glass. While Junior had his back to them, Yang sat back down and whispered to Sun, "What're you doing?"

"Please, I got this," Sun breezily said, taking a straw from a nearby box and taking off the wrapper. Folding up the wrapper, he placed it on the bar counter. It wouldn't be the first time he had pulled the trick he was about to perform on someone. Leaning over to the side, he then called out to Junior, "Mind if I get a cold one?"

Soon enough, Junior came back with a bottle of hooch and a clean whiskey glass. Without hesitation, Sun grabbed the bottle. Yep, it was chilled. Perfect. He made sure to position the glass so that one part of the rim was sitting on the folded wrapper. As he began to pour the cool liquor into the glass, Sun began to explain.

"Water density… it's fuckin' high school science, right? But, I'm no fuckin' nerd. Who needs that shit when you can bet on shit? So, here's the game: I'll pour until the booze hits the rim. Then, you'll need to grab some coins from that register over there." Sun motioned with his head to the register. "We'll drop same-sized coins into here 'till the booze spills over. Deal?"

"Quite the game you got there…" Junior grunted. "Okay, what do I get if I win?"

"I'm a hunter. I can give you ALL the inside info on Beacon. That's worth somthin' to someone, right?" Sun calmly offered.

"What?!" Yang cried. However, she was shushed by Sun's raised hand.

"…And if you win?" questioned Junior.

"The name. You know it, and I want it," challenged Sun.

Junior pressed his lips together. On the one hand, it wasn't good business practice to offer info on your clientele up for a bet. On the other hand… this was an interesting sounding game. Heck, Junior had to steal the idea away for later. "…I'm in," he decided.

"Cool, cool. Mind getting those coins?" Sun politely asked. Nodding, Junior walked over to the register to grab some even-sized coins.

While Junior was distracted, Yang furiously whispered, "Okay, what the fuck, Sun?!"

"Look, I got this shit. Don't sweat it," Sun replied, cool as a cucumber.

Before Yang could pretest more, Junior returned with the coins. "Will these do?" he asked, showing Sun the coins.

"Perfect," Sun smiled, taking a few coins from Junior's hand. "You can put in as many as ya want at a time. I'll go first."

Sun took three coins from the pile he'd grabbed. He cautiously studied the glass, from the almost unnoticeable wrapper, to the condensation dripping down the sides. With one smooth move, Sun dipped and dropped the three coins into the glass. Yang and Junior were on edge as they watched the liquid. It briefly shook, but the tension didn't break. Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

"I get it…" Junior mumbled as he took two coins and hovered them over the glass. After a brief moment of hesitation, Junior dunked the coins in the glass. Once again, the drink wavered, but it didn't spill over.

"Hmmm…" Sun hummed. He shook the coins in his hand. Looking at the glass, he could tell that the condensation was starting to dampen the wrapper. Good. Any minute now, he'd win. He just needed to bide his time with the least amount of coins.

Taking one coin, Sun breathed. Carefully, he dropped the coin in. The three gathered around the bar paused to stare at the glass. Yang in particular was nearly shaking. Damn, she was nervous. What the fuck was Sun thinking, offering info on Beacon to an asshole gangster like Junior? If Sun lost, both he and she were fucked beyond belief. Luckily, the tension on the glass didn't break. Yang let out a breath of relief. That was too close for her.

Now it was Junior's turn. Feeling confident, he took four coins into his fingers and held them over the glass. But then, he reconsidered. Maybe four was a little too much. So, he withdrew his hand and only took up another two coins this time. With a bated breath, Junior dropped his coins in the glass. By now, the tension was close to breaking. Everyone could tell. Still, it was amazing that it didn't break on his turn.

"You know, I think you like this game, Junior," Sun snorted, watching Junior.

Junior grunted. "Humph. Just go, monkey boy."

Sun's smirk grew larger. "You got it, sir."

Picking one coin out of his coin pile, Sun fiddled with it in his fingers. From the looks of it, the condensation had pretty much soaked the wrapper. Just what he wanted. Once Sun went, that was it. The glass would fully rest on the bar, instead of partially on the folder wrapper. Then, the glass would only shift a millimeter, and the tension would break. All he needed was for Junior's coins to tip the scales. With his confidence full, Sun dropped the coin in the glass. The booze in the cup made only a small splash as the coin sank to the bottom. Grinning, Sun looked up at Junior. "Your turn."

Junior could feel the sweat on the back of his neck as he prepared his one coin. This was easily the closest and tensest game he'd played ever since he'd heel those underground poker tournaments in the VIP section of the club. Now he knew he'd definitely steal this game for himself. Dropping in the coin, he, Yang, and Sun watched the results.

The booze ran over the rim, and spilled onto the counter.

"Yes!" Sun cheered, pumping his fists up and down.

"Fuck!" Junior cried, having lost.

"Oh my fucking god!" breathed Yang, furiously fanning her face. Man, that was so tense, it made her sweat.

Reveling in his victory, Sun told Junior, "Give me the name, buddy boy!"

Angrily slamming down his fist, Junior growled. How was he had by this random hunter? He just couldn't believe it! And, as much as it hurt to say, he'd got beaten pretty well. It was a nice game of chance this guy brought in.

"The name… the name…" Junior mumbled lowly. "It's… Roman Torchwick. He bought a bunch of bomb parts."

That revelation took Sun and Yang aback a little. Roman Torchwick? The thief that's been on the news more times than they could count? How deep did this bomb plot go?

"So, he's in on it too?" Sun asked himself. This case just kept on getting deeper and deeper!

"We should tell the others," Yang whispered to Sun. Nodding, Sun stood up from the bar and grabbed the glass. Chugging down the drink, Sun ingested the fire water. That was a nice burn going down. Then, he spat the coins back into the cup and handed it back to Junior.

"Keep the change," Sun quipped. Stunned, Junior grabbed the glass and stared at Sun.

Tugging at Yang's arm, Sun said, "C'mon, let's go."

"Right," Yang complied.

Standing up, Yang walked after Sun, exiting the club quickly. Now that they got the info they needed, they needed to get it to the others ASAP.

Out in the parking lot, the pair sat on the Bumblebee. Turing on the engine, Yang couldn't hold her curiosity any longer. "How'd you know you'd win?" she asked.

Sun gave a cheeky grin. "Easy. I fuckin' cheated."

Now that reply made Yang smile too. "I knew I like ya for a reason," she purred.

Revving up her bike, Sun and yang sped off down the street. Once they got a good distance away from the club, they were free to call their friends. After all, Yang figured that Junior wasn't all that glad that he lost. He might send his goons after them. Not that she couldn't fight them off, but time was a bit of the essence now.

As the blonde pair raced off, Team Hunters chalked up a point towards their investigation.

**xxx**

**Man, I love that game. If you've ever read the Stardust Crusaders arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, you'll know exactly what part this chapter was inspired by. That D'Arby fight was sick as hell. Heck, now I'm in the mood to read that part over again. But, before I go, I gotta ask you to leave me a kind word in the reviews section, It's the legacy of your blood!**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm heating up like a bloody stone!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: A Hospital Visit, Without Flowers Or Gifts

**It's always important in life to ask questions. Like, for example: Why are taxes so annoying at filling out? What really is up or down in space? Who would win in a fight between Guts and Ike? Was the Escaflowne movie only slightly, or crushingly disappointing? How will this chapter play out? Well, I strive to answer at least one of those questions right now. The one about the story, not the others. You'd have to go to someone else for that.**

**xxx**

Around mid-day, Neptune and Blake found themselves gazing at the front of Vale General Hospital. As people went about their business normally (well, as normally as people needing to visit a hospital can), the incredibly unlikely pair was trying to figure out a game plan.

The plan to interrogate Yoshikage Kira required them to accomplish at least three things. First of all, they needed to figure out the room number of the room their suspect was staying in. Next, they needed to cause a distraction to slip past the police guards probably watching the room, as there was no way in hell, they could just walk into that room and expect an interview. Finally, they needed to slip out unnoticed, and make it look like they were never there.

"So…" Neptune asked as he watched an ambulance pass, "Any ideas?"

"A few…" Blake mused, thinking.

She was a ninja, damn it! Well, not exactly, but she was close enough. She had trained in the White Fang to be stealthy and swift. In theory, this should be nothing more than a cake-walk for her. But, yet again, she did chose to leave that part of her life behind. Maybe she already began to rust in the time between her desertion and now. Well, there was only one way to find out. Turning to Neptune, Blake began to explain the idea running through her head.

"Okay, we're going to need a distraction, first of all. I'm going to need you to do something while I check the log book. We should be able to get the room number from there. Then, once we got that, we're going to need to sneak in. But, we should watch the room first, to get a feel for it. Sound good?"

Neptune nodded. "Got it."

At that, Blake gave a small nod. The plan was on. The pair began to walk up to the entrance, past all the people, ambulances, and whatever else hospitals service. Passing through the sliding doors, Neptune began to scan around the room.

What he needed was something in there to make a good distraction. Form what he could tell, there were several options. Not that a lot of them were good options, but they were options none the less. He could easily start a fight with a random person. But, the security guard would probably stop that pretty quickly. Maybe he could buy a soda from the vending machine and spill it everywhere. Nah, that wasn't big enough of a distraction. Like, he would need something big enough to cause a stir, like a fire or something. Hey, a fire! Now that was an idea. A small fire would not only cause a big uproar, but it would give him and Blake enough time to do the things they needed.

Leaning over to Blake, Neptune whispered, "Get ready to read that list. You'll know when the distraction'll start."

Neptune didn't wait for a response as he walked over to his target. The vending machine probably had some very sensitive wires in the back, which could probably spark and light something easily on fire. Just what he needed.

Calmly whistling, Neptune acted like he was about to buy something from the machine. He took out his wallet, and pulled out five lien. However, he made sure to drop it and make it look like an accident. Neptune only allowed himself a brief look around as he moved to pick up the lien. However, he "accidentally" kicked the lien under the machine.

That was exactly Neptune needed. He moved towards the back of the machine, acting as if he was trying to find a place to try and pick up his five lien. But, what he was looking for instead was some loose wiring. Ah, there was one. It looked still live, too. Neptune looked around to see if anyone was noticing what he was doing. Nobody was batting an eyelash at him. Perfect. Yanking the wire, it sparked and sputtered with electricity. Without a second thought, Neptune dumped the end of the wire into a nearby trashcan. Something would probably catch on fire in there. Then, he and Blake could move on with their plan.

Casually walking away from the machine, Neptune shoved his hands in his pockets and began to not-so-innocently whistle. Inside his pocket, he rubbed his d20 for some good luck. He could definitely use it for this mission. Heck, maybe he could make up for the ten he rolled earlier.

Walking up to Blake, who was leaning against the far wall, he said to her, "Get ready to look."

Blake blinked. "What'd you do?"

The smoke pouring out of the trashcan and the panicked scream of an elderly lady proved to be the perfect answer to Blake's question.

"You didn't," Blake flatly stated in shock.

"Look, just use it, okay?" Neptune nervously replied. By now several people were screaming, and the fire began to grow bigger.

Angrily grabbing Neptune by the arm, Blake yanked him out of the doors and onto the sidewalk. "You moron!" she chastised. "What kind of idiot lights a fire in a hospital?!"

"I was working, wasn't it?" was Neptune's defense.

"You just drew more attention to the hospital!" scolded Blake. "Think! You just brought a bunch of fire-fighters and cops here! Good job planning that out, hero!"

It just dawned on Neptune how blazingly stupid his plan was. "I guess I didn't think that one through…" he mumbled in defeat.

"No shit!" Blake exasperatedly cried. In her mind, she knew this wasn't the time to stand out in the middle of the walkway and yell at your partner about lighting shit on fire, especially if one was currently flaming inside a hospital. They needed to get out of here before someone put the pieces together.

"Let's go," Blake hissed before speed walking away from the hospital. Neptune tried to sputter something to protect his ego, but he failed. Caving in, he simply decided to speed walk after Blake.

Well, that escalated out of control quickly.

**xxx**

Weiss and Ruby were enjoying a rather nice meal at charming little café near the airship dock. Currently, Ruby was in the process of eating her fourth cheese crepe, and Weiss was downing her fifth cup of coffee. Vacuo Blend, obviously. Weiss only wanted the best, after all.

"Look, all I'm saying is that a rat could TOTALLY beat a scorpion," Ruby said, cutting apart her crepe.

Weiss sighed. "Ruby, I love you, but you just have to accept that you're wrong sometimes," she lamented, before taking a drag of her coffee.

Ruby shoved a piece of crepe in her mouth before replying, "Oshh? Whysh sho?"

"Swallow," Weiss patiently reminded Ruby.

Following Weiss, orders, Ruby downed the chunk of crepe. "Why so?" she repeated.

"Because, everyone knows that the scorpion's poison would immobilize the rat with pain!" Weiss passionately exclaimed, slamming her mug on the table. Once again, she had allowed herself to be caught up in her girlfriend's little world, where small conversations suddenly became massive, world shaking debates.

"Have you ever seen a scorpion?" Ruby snapped back. She dropped her fork and folded her arms for emphasis.

That made Weiss pause. "I… No..."

"Exactly! So, how can you defend it if you've never seen it?" was Ruby's (intended) finishing blow.

Weiss' cheeks puffed with petty frustration and anger. "And YOU'VE never seen a fight between the two!" she shot back.

"Oh yeah?! Well, you're… you're… dumb! Yeah, dumb!" Ruby cried in frustration. She was particularly frustrated that Weiss had completely blown through her finishing blow. SO, all she had to fall back on were weak insults.

Weiss, however, was completely taken aback by what Ruby said. "You… you… DOLT! I'm not the dumb one! You are for thinking a rat would win!"

"At least I'm smarter than you, you dumb person!" Ruby said, sticking her tongue out at Weiss.

Weiss was getting more flustered. So much so, that even her own insults were beginning to rapidly degrade. "You stupid girl! You stupid, stupid, girl!"

"Cheese brain!"

"No brain!"

"Dumb-head!"

"Dummy!"

"Dolt!"

"Stop stealing my insults!"

"Make me!"

"No! You make… yourself!"

"You make your face!"

"YOUR face!"

"Your—"

Ruby's insult was interrupted by the sudden sound of Weiss' scroll ringing. The classical string music only grew louder and less muffled as the white-haired heiress pulled her scroll out of her pocket. Looking at the caller ID, Weiss saw that it was Blake.

Pressing the answer button, Weiss held the scroll up to her ear. "Hello?—"

Suddenly, Ruby snatched the scroll out of Weiss' hand. "Sorry, we're busy!" Ruby yelled into the receiver before pressing the end button and tossing the scroll onto the table.

"What the hell was that for?!" Weiss cried, angry at her partner.

"We weren't done talking!" protested Ruby.

"Damn it, Ruby! You're such a child!" Weiss shouted.

"Gah! I hate it when you're like this!" Ruby cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I don't like it either, but you make me like this!" Weiss argued back.

"I… UGH!" Ruby grunted in defeat. She wouldn't dare say anything truly cutting to Weiss. As it stood, it would probably damage all the good work done by her therapist. Plus, it would just be plain wrong to use words like "No wonder you see a therapist" or "You need more help than I thought". Ruby would ever say anything like that.

Weiss let out a heavy sigh. "Look… I don't want to fight, okay? Can't we just enjoy our day? Seriously, arguing is the LAST thing I wanted to do today…"

"Me too…" Ruby agreed.

By now, the White Rose pair was tired of debating and arguing. It wasn't healthy in the slightest. So, really it was just best to agree to disagree.

The thoughtful silence was interrupted by classical string music again. Now both Ruby and Weiss stared at the scroll on the table. It was Blake calling again. Ruby blinked at Weiss, before nodding at the scroll.

Understanding what Ruby meant, Weiss picked up her scroll and answered it. "Blake? Sorry about last time. What do you need?"

On the other end, Blake's voice said, "Hey, uh, Weiss? We're… done with the hospital. Where are you, exactly? Like, is it somewhere a fair distance away?"

"We're at the café down the street from the air dock. It's called…" Weiss snapped her fingers, trying to remember the name. "Trussardi! That's it! Yeah, we're in there. Trussardi Café. Wait, are you done getting information already?"

"Well, SOMEBODY botched the deal, and may or may not have done something morally reprehensible. Anyway, I'll just explain when we get there," Blake replied.

The expression on Weiss' face was a mixture of confusion and befuddlement. "Uh… Okay...?" was all she could say to the other end. Just what the heck had gone wrong on their end?

"See you there, Weiss," Blake finally said, before hanging up her call.

Weiss closed her scroll and shoved it back into her pocket. Scratching her neck, she said, "Blake and… Neptune, was it? Yeah, he and she are coming to see us here. Apparently… things at the hospital didn't go all too well."

"Really? Did Blake say why?" Ruby asked, concern creeping into her tone.

"No, but don't worry. Blake sounded fine. But, I wonder how things went bad…." Mused Weiss.

"Well," Ruby said with a wave of her hand, "I'm sure whatever the reason is, she'd find a way out of it."

"…I suppose you have a point," conceded Weiss. If Weiss had one good thing to say about Blake's time in the White Fang, at least it allowed her to slip in and out of sticky situations easily. But, that was the only credit she intended on giving those murderous, degenerate thugs.

"Right?" Ruby smiled. "Now, should we order something for Blake when she gets here?". Picking up a menu, Ruby scanned over the food listings. Weiss briefly did the same, before the pair came at a realization at the same time. Dropping the menus, the White Rose pair said at the same time:

"Tuna."

**xxx**

**And… that's it for this chapter! At least I got to answer one of your burning, heating up questions. And, as for the others… fuck it, I don't know. The Escaflowne one is just based on my opinion, so that won't do you any good. I mean, I really like the animation and music, but man, the plot is just flat out disappointing. Well, at least I can just watch the show over again. In fact, I think I'll do that now.**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm firing up my DVD player!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: You Done Fucked Up, Neptune

**Hey, folks, The Draigg here once again. Now, instead of rambling about something with middling importance, I'm going to do something good by someone. Have you heard about my friend, Falcyon? If you have (or ARE Falcyon), great! He's a fun, Velvet-loving guy! And, if you haven't heard about him, go ahead and check out his account on this website. He has a few stories in the wings (some which yours truly helped out with). You might just enjoy a few! Anyway, go ahead and check him out! He'll more than appreciate it! Anyway, let's get to the story at hand!**

**xxx**

It took at least Blake and Neptune about an hour or so to get to Café Trussardi. At least it was within decent walking distance from the hospital. And, at least it was far enough away that it wasn't in the immediate area, where Neptune might be recognized as some asshole who lit a fire in a hospital.

Neptune didn't lift his head once on the way to the café. He was too ashamed that he'd guffed up his one job. The Random Number God sure wasn't on his side today. It was that damn ten he rolled. His luck went the negative way, instead of the positive. Maybe he should start seeing a card reader instead of divining his luck from a random die toss. At least cards gave more specific reasons why or why not something would work.

Blake, on the other hand, was still fuming over her—no, Neptune's failure. If it wasn't for his mistake, then she could've gotten what she needed, and interrogated the subject flawlessly. Really, he was the weak link in the chain. In hindsight, she probably should have taken over distraction duties. At least she wouldn't have just defaulted to "start a fucking fire" as a normal, innocuous distraction.

Opening up the door to the café, the arrival of Blake and Neptune was announced by the chiming of small bells attached to the door bar. Immediately, Blake saw that Weiss and Ruby were waving them over to a table near a large window, the one with a view of the street.

Quickly, Neptune and Blake slipped into Ruby and Weiss' booth. Once seated, Neptune cradled his face in his hands, and Blake couldn't help but let out a long, annoyed sigh. That made Weiss and Ruby look at each other nervously.

"Uhh… how was your, uh, hospital visit?" Ruby cautiously asked.

"Ask the hotshot over here," was Blake's strained reply. She jabbed a thumb at the still moping Neptune.

"Well?" Weiss asked towards Neptune.

"…Don't wanna say…" Neptune moaned, his voice muffled by his palms.

"Hey," Blake sternly said, "It's your fault. YOU explain it."

The tension between the two was beginning to seriously discomfort Team White Rose. They could just feel their associate's auras give off negative vibes. Whatever it was, they needed to know just what the hell happened, so they could fix the gap. Between them, Ruby and Weiss could probably mend the issue.

Unfortunately, they couldn't do that if Neptune just flat out refused to elaborate on what had gone so wrong on their end. Instead of explaining himself, he'd just completely shut down, and didn't make another noise.

"Ugh, fine, I'll talk about it," caved in Blake.

Weiss and Ruby leaned in closer, interested in what Blake had to say.

Looking around briefly, Blake continued on in a lower voice, trying to keep what happened on the down-low. "Neptune was supposed to cause a distraction so we could get to the target's room. For some reason, he decided starting a fire was the best idea." She punctuated that last sentence with a glare at Neptune.

Ruby's jaw hung open, and Weiss simply face palmed at what Blake had to say. What kind of moron decides that lighting a fire is the FIRST option he should go to? Especially in a hospital where tons of innocent, hurt people were? Was his mind briefly taken over by a pyromaniac, or what? What moronic, boneheaded move.

"You MORON!" Weiss shouted, taking the hand off of her face. "Did you even think for a second about what you did?! Seriously, what when through your sub-human mind that you would even THINK of something like that?!"

Ruby looked around nervously. "Please, don't shout, Weiss," she pleaded, tugging at Weiss' sleeve. She was worried that unwanted attention would be drawn to them. Fortunately, not very people were in the café at the moment. At least Ruby had her luck in check.

Weiss pressed her lips tightly together in frustration. Her jaw moved back in forth in anger. This… this… dolt had just put not only Blake, but a whole bunch of innocent people in danger's way! That's not what a hunter does! That's what the people they fought against would do!

"Sorry…" Weiss mumbled in apology to Ruby. Honestly, she was just frustrated at it all. What if they'd gotten tossed in jail? Then she'd have to bail them out, and that wouldn't reflect well on her or the rest of her friends at all. In fact, Neptune was lucky that he didn't get them arrested.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Neptune suddenly announced, sliding out of the booth. Before anyone on Team RWB could say anything, he was gone, looking for a place to be alone for a bit.

**xxx**

Neptune walked into the stall and locked it behind him. Putting down the lid and cover on the toilet, Neptune sat down, needing some silence to think. By now, the full weight of what he did had sunk in. Man, he just felt low. Really, really low. Even he was at a loss on how he thought starting a fire was anything resembling a good idea.

"Moron…" Neptune muttered to himself, massaging his temples. Maybe he should have re-rolled.

Trying to make himself feel better, Neptune pulled the green d20 out of his pocket. With a brief toss in the air, Neptune hoped that his roll for luck would be good. Almost on reflex, he caught the die as it nearly fell into his lap.

Closing his eyes, Neptune thought to himself, "_Please let this roll be in my favor…_"

Opening his eyes, the blue(?) haired hunter looked at his clenched hand. Unfurling his fingers, he checked the number facing him on the die. It was another ten. Shit.

"Fuck…" Neptune hissed. Not that it was a bad roll exactly, but it didn't give him an idea of good fortune, either. It was the same reading as last time: luck and chance could swing either way.

Well, it wouldn't hurt to roll again. After all, that roll was only for luck. Now he could roll for intuition. Once again, Neptune rattled the die in his hand, and tossed it in the air again. However, this time, he caught it while it was midway through its descent. Maybe if he changed it up, his chance would change too.

Opening his hand, Neptune checked the die. It was blank. Not a single number was on that side of the green plastic.

Wait, what?

Neptune rubbed his eyes and blinked. Looking at the d20 again, he saw that it was a ten again. It was nothing conclusive. Still, it was better than… whatever he just saw. Well, he wasn't even sure if he saw anything. Maybe his eyes just tricked him. Yeah, that was it. Clearly, his eyes were the problem, not that his die had somehow _failed_ to give him a number reading, which should be impossible. But, if it was real, and if the die was blank for a brief moment… maybe that was a good sign? Neptune couldn't decide whether that it was a sign of bad of bad, or increased insight to come. The Random Number God sure liked to mess with its followers from time to time.

Now that he was feeling completely baffled, Neptune decided to shove his d20 back into his pocket. Maybe that was for the best for now. He'd already had enough stress today from fucking up a chance to interrogate a criminal. The idea that the supernatural was messing with him now was a bit too much for now. Or ever, really. Yeah, that last one was preferable.

Sighing, Neptune stood up. Opening the latch, he exited the stall and walked over to the sink. He stared at himself in the mirror. Man, that frustration was starting to put small bags under his eyes. Or maybe his personal disappointment was the cause. Either way, he didn't like it.

Neptune turned on the sink, letting the warm water run. Cupping his hands, he splashed some water on his face, hoping that it would make him feel better. Well, that was the idea, anyway. He grabbed a few paper towels and dried off his face.

"_I wonder how Sun's luck was…_" he couldn't help but wonder.

Sighing, Neptune crumpled up the paper towel into a wad and tossed it into the waste bin. After that, he went right back to staring into the mirror. Nope, nothing had changed. He was still same. He was still the same unlucky bastard that he'd been all day. He hoped that Sun had at least made up for his lack of luck with something good. For all he knew, Sun had gotten all the information he needed.

It was odd to think, that luck could be divined by the simple toss of a die. But, that was chance for you. It wasn't ever meant to make sense. The chaotic mess that governed chance and luck was called the Random Number God for a reason, after all.

Neptune was done in there. He had nothing more to do in the bathroom. He couldn't just hide away from everybody forever, after all. There was nothing more he could do in there, anyway. Might as well face the music. Or, judging the way his day had been going so far, spread 'em, lube up, and take it with a smile.

Nudging open the door, Neptune began to make his way back to Team RWB's booth. But then, all of the sudden, he felt a familiar buzz in his pocket. And, its partner, a certain familiar song, began to chime.

"_I used to rule the world / Seas would rise when I gave the word_

_Now in the morning I sleep alone / Sweep the streets I used to own_"

Pulling out his scroll, Neptune saw who was calling: Sun. Neptune's eyes lit up briefly. Maybe he could bring something good to the table! Maybe his friend succeeded where he had personally failed!

Eagerly pressing the 'answer' button, Neptune held the scroll to his ear an greeted Sun. "Yo, Sun! How's it going on your end?"

"Fuckin' SICK, man! I owned some gangster douche, and I got a huge fuckin' lead! Like, your mom sized!" Sun gleamed on the other end.

"Yeah!" Neptune cheered. Then, Sun's insult hit him. "Hey, wait a minute! My mom isn't fat!"

"I know, I know, I'm just yankin' your dick. Anyways, where are you? Me n' Yang want to meet up," Sun said on the other end.

"Café Trussari. It's near the air dock. Oh, and everyone else is here. Might as well meet us all here," said Neptune.

"Did Weiss and Ruby get anything?" Sun asked.

"…You know, I didn't ask. Should I?" wondered Neptune.

"Nah…" Sun said through the receiver," I'll just ask 'em when we get there. Anyways, I gotta go. See ya there, ya lug!"

"Bye!" Neptune said. Sun didn't reply. He'd already hung up by then.

Despite the fact that Sun hung up on him, Neptune didn't mind. In fact, he was glad. Sun really did do a good job! He got the information they needed, and now they have a lead on this case! Just like the die said, the group's luck did swing both ways! It just wasn't for him personally, was all!

Now smiling, Neptune sat back down at the booth. Nothing the others said about him would bring him down now. He had faith chance, and it had provided. It worked out in the end, in some way.

Finally, with Sun on the way, the tip of the spear was sharpened. They were at the head of the case, finally becoming players in the game of laws and crimes. And all due to chance.

**xxx**

**Gotta like some Coldplay, especially the song, "Viva La Vida". I think we can all agree that it's easily one of their best albums, if not THE best in some fans eyes. Anyway, moving on, let's not talk about Coldplay. Instead, let's talk about another friend of mine, JimboYokimbo. Now, I know you've seen his name here from time to time. He's my editor, after all. But, did you know he's a burgeoning writer as well? That's right, he's a wordsmith, like me! Anyway, go ahead and send him some kind words. I know he needs some motivation to write some great things. And, maybe you'll write some nice things for me too, in the reviews section!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm gone in a flash… for now!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Wheel Of Fortune Turns Another Way

**You know, there's a few things you readers should know about my writing practice. First of all, I barely even plan where my stories go. I only work around a central idea, and how the story should end. Other than that, I barely do any planning. In other words, the Stephen King approach to story writing. Secondly, I always make it a point to subvert audience expectations. It's the advice Hayao Miyazaki goes by when he make great anime. I think it's worked so far. Anyway, keeping those facts in mind, let's get to the story, huh?**

**xxx**

Perry was huffing and puffing as he pedaled his bike down the sidewalk. Those pizzas strapped to the frame sure were making it hard to steer. Well, if there was a bright side to all of it, it was that at least getting his White Fang brethren their pizzas might improve his status within the group. Because, currently, he wasn't exactly on a high rung on the social ladder. If Perry had to guess, it was because Roman treated him comparatively better than the others. He had heard rumblings among his peers that he might be a race traitor. Now, that simply wasn't true. So, Perry was pretty desperate to prove otherwise, and he needed to everything possible to placate his associates.

Wiping the sweat away from his forehead, Perry felt the back of throat dry up. Man, he could use a drink. He'd been out on the town all day without a break. After all, it was a tedious task to get food for everyone back at the warehouse. Man, he could use a drink.

He scanned the street, looking for any place to buy a drink. He was in the mood for a cola right now. With ice. The thought alone made him pedal faster. Ah, now there was a place! There was a café just up ahead!

Perry slowed down his bike as he rolled closer to the café. Skidding to a halt, Perry halted in front of a bike rack. However, as he climbed off the bike, his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to a different type of bike. The motorcycle parked in the space in front of the café sure was a feast to the eyes. The yellow paint… the custom hand grips… oh man, those were handmade gauges mounted on the top! Whoever owned this bike seriously took pride in it. Perry would as well, if he could actually afford a work of art like that.

Sighing whimsically to himself, Perry undid the bindings holding the pizza to the bike. Letting down the boxes to the ground, Perry reached into his pocket and pulled out his bike lock. Once he was sure that his bike was safely fastened to the pole, Perry hefted up the pizzas and walked inside the café.

As he stood in the entrance, he saw that, for the most part, the café was empty. Well, except for that one group sitting at a nearby booth. It was kind of a big group, too. It was six people stuffed into a booth, happily chatting away.

Shaking the distraction out of his mind, Perry walked up to the counter to wait to be serviced. Soon enough, a young man in a chef's outfit walked up to the counter.

"Hi! How can I help you?" the man at the counter politely asked.

"Uh, can I get a drink? A cold cola?" ordered Perry.

"Sure! That'll be six lien, please," the server said. Nodding, Perry took his credit card out of his pocket and handed it to the server. He'd already used it to buy all these pizzas, so adding a soda on top of it was just a drop in the bucket by comparison.

Once the server scanned the card, he handed it back to Perry. "Go ahead and take a seat. I'll be right with you!" he advised.

"Alright," Perry quickly mumbled before turning on his heel and walking away.

Looking around, there were plenty of places to sit. But, it would be weird if he just say by himself in some corner. He didn't want to look like some weirdo loner pizza deliveryman. If he wanted to keep his remaining social status up, he had to look not afraid to be around people. So, the booth next to that one group was the obvious choice.

Perry dumped the stack of pizza boxes on the table and slid into the seat. Before long, the server walked up, holding a nice, ice cold cup of soda. Giving a brief smile to the server before he walked away, Perry eagerly began to slurp the soda through it's straw. Ahh… now that felt good running down the back of his throat.

As he kept on sipping the caffeinated beverage, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation happening behind him. It wasn't like he had much of a choice. After all, the guy doing all the talking at the moment wasn't exactly being very quiet.

"—And so, he fell for it, like some fuckin' putz!" the guy behind him boasted before chuckling.

"So, what did you find out?" Perry heard a high pitched girl's voice ask.

"Well… Junior spilled the fuckin' beans, all right. Someone bought a shot ton of bomb parts. I think he said… five?" the guy reported behind him.

That got Perry's attention. Bombs? Someone was going to blow something up? Now that was interesting. Now curious, he began to pay closer attention to what the people at the other booth were talking about.

"What else?" a masculine, but laid back voice asked.

"Well," the guy doing the talking said, in a not-so-low whisper, "Apparently Roman Torchwick's in on it. Like, balls deep."

Perry heard a few small gasps come from the people sitting at that booth. He himself was only barely able to stop himself from gasping. Now that was quite a shock. Roman Torchwick? Bombs? That could only mean one thing: the White Fang's plan was found out! This was bad. Very, very, bad. Just how in the hell did some random people find out about the bomb plot? At least Perry was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to overhear this horrible discovery. It was as if fate or chance had guided him here, to hear this news. But, now wasn't the time to dwell on ideas about casualty. He needed to warn the others, pronto!

Perry began to sweat uncontrollable. Wiping away the beads of perspiration from this dark bangs, he then readjusted his glasses and began to chug his soda. He needed to finish his break quickly! His Faunus comrades' plans were in danger!

Draining his cup of cola, Perry tried the best he could to calmly slide out of his seat at the booth. Unfortunately, he tripped over his own foot in his hurry to get out of his chair. That got the attention of the group that he'd been eavesdropping on.

"Oh shit!" the blonde haired guy who'd been talking exclaimed. Wait, he had a tail! He was a Faunus too! Was he a traitor to the cause?

"Hey, you alright?" the high pitched girl in red immediately asked, looking at Perry.

"Need some help?" the well dressed, laid back guy added in.

Perry quickly waved himself away. "No, no, I'm f-fine. Thanks for asking," he swiftly excused.

As he picked himself up from the ground, Perry hoped that he looked calm enough. After all, he'd been told in the past that he had a bad poker face. Luckily, it didn't look like the group staring at him had noticed his internal panic.

Standing straight, Perry grabbed the pizza boxes off of the table and hefted them into his grip. With the pizzas in tow, he quickly walked his way out of the café, and onto the street. He needed to do everything quickly. There wasn't a minute to spare! As fast as he could, Perry strapped the pizza boxes onto his bike and undid the lock.

Now that his bicycle was freed from the pole, Perry hopped on. He began to pedal as hard and fast as he could down the sidewalk. He didn't even care if he wasn't obeying proper sidewalk etiquette. He needed to get this news to the others, ASAP!

**xxx**

Later, back at the current base of operations for the White Fang (and tenuously accepted human help), Roman and Neo were back to doing what they were used to doing during the day. Namely, accomplishing almost nothing of importance. After all, they had lackeys now. Roman didn't need to build that bomb himself. He'd just gotten some flea-bitten mongrel to build the five bombs for him. As of current, he'd resorted to longing around in his office, shopping for suit accessories on his computer.

Neo, meanwhile, was also in the office, but doing something decidedly more deadly. She was playing around with her new double tomahawk. After all, a girl just couldn't use the same tricks all the time. Sure, the parasol of pain was fine, but it she was beginning to feel that it was a bit… expected. And, when it came to killing, being expected was almost a death sentence. So, in the spirit of that idea, Neo was enjoying herself by hurling her new toy at the cork pin board.

All of the sudden, someone crashed through the office door. Roman groaned and looked up from his computer screen. Who would just barge in someone's office like that (other than Queen Beetch and her dumb drones)? Oh, wait, it was just Perry. Actually, his appearance was good. Not only was he carrying a bunch of pizzas in his hands, but Roman could use his opinion on something.

"Ah, Perry, glad you're here," Roman half-sneered. "Do you think this scarf would look good with my coat?" Roman then turned around the computer monitor to show Perry what he was talking about.

Perry couldn't help but internally question this turn of actions. He didn't have time to give fashion advice! Especially on scarves that looked almost completely identical to the one his superior was currently wearing. But, if he told Roman off, there was no way he'd heed his warning. So, begrudgingly, he had to play along with him for now.

Placing down the pizzas on Roman's desk, Perry observed, "Isn't that the same color as the scarf you're wearing?"

Roman scoffed at the mere notion of that. "Please! This scarf is _pumice_. That one is _slate_. Pfft, of course a plebian like you wouldn't get it."

Perry couldn't help but furrow his brow at Roman. He didn't need this! The sake of the whole operation now relied on him telling this news to the right people! "Sir, anyway, I got—"

All of the sudden, Perry could feel a rush of wind above his head. Holy shit, was something thrown at him?! Looking at the offending object, Perry gaped when he saw that a double tomahawk was buried in the wall just past his head. Looking back in the direction it was thrown from, he saw Neo, not-so-innocently smiling.

"Seriously, Neo?" Roman chided. "Double tomahawks aren't boomerangs, you know! Now, get it out of the wall, or I swear to GOD I'll sell you to carnival!"

At that, Neo glared at Roman, but complied with what he ordered. Unfortunately, she lacked the height to actually reach the tomahawk. An embarrassed blush formed around her cheeks and nose as she dragged a chair over to the wall to stand on. With an odd sounding, strangled grunt, Neo yanked the double tomahawk out of the wall and tossed it on Roman's desk. With a huff, she finally plopped her rear in the seat to sit down.

"Barbarian…" Roman grumbled under his breath. Then, turning his attention back to Perry, he said, "What, you're still here?"

Strained, Perry tried to report on what he had heard. "Sir, I've got bad new—"

"I mean seriously, I don't need to hold your hand, do I? Or should I just pick up after you?" Roman snarked.

Perry couldn't take this anymore. All that was left for him was to snap. "We're SCREWED, sir. Completely screwed!"

Roman was silenced by the sudden outburst. "Heh?" he muttered.

"Someone sold you out! I overheard some people say they KNEW you have bombs! Our cover's gone! We're FINISHED here!" Perry ranted.

Roman stroked his cheek in thought briefly. Then, calmly, he asked, "Can you tell me who knows?"

"What?" Perry panted, finishing his rant.

"Descriptions, boy," Roman glowered.

Perry tried his best to remember. To be honest, in his rush to deliver the news, he didn't pick up on anything that would easily distinguish who'd gotten that info. Perry could only remember a few glaring details.

"Uhh…" Perry mused, "I think the guy talking about it had blonde hair… And a tail! A monkey tail!"

Roman gave pause. He's seen someone with that description before. But, he needed to know for sure. "Did he have his shirt unbuttoned?" he flatly asked.

"Err… I think so? I guess…" Perry muttered.

It was just as Roman thought. That one monkey kid from a few months ago was coming back to finish the job. And as if stopping that dust robbery with his cat-eared girlfriend wasn't enough. If he had to guess, she had probably something to do with it. It just stood to sense, after all.

Standing up, Roman put on his signature cocky grin. Reaching over, he patted Perry on the shoulder. "Thanks for telling me," he said with his normal smug tone. "I'll take care of it. This wouldn't be the first time I had to deal with this crap…"

"H-how, sir?" Perry couldn't help but ask.

"Well, let's say I got the perfect plan for nosy people. Now, if you'll excuse us, Neo and I need to get it _just _right," Roman said, trying his best to sound reassuring.

Perry, being the person he was, fell for it. He let out a breath of relief. "Whew. Well, if it save the cause, I'm all for it."

"Good, good. Now, go. Leave. And take the pizzas with you." Roman ordered while picking up the pizza boxes and shoving them in Perry's arms.

"I'll get them to my comrades, sir!" Perry announced. He didn't even mind that Roman was now shoving him out of the door. He felt perfectly accomplished currently.

"I know you will," Roman said before shoving the White Fang lackey out of the door and slamming it shut.

Turning to Neo, who had been listening to the entire conversation, Roman began to wring his hands together. The leather of his gloves squeaked together as the two stared at each other, realizing that the inevitable was arriving.

"…?" Neo asked.

"Right. Start packing it up," Roman ordered.

Walking over to the office safe, the well-dressed thief casually spun the dial, undoing the combination lock in a few seconds. Taking out a leather case, he opened it to check it's contents. Yep, the stacks of lien he'd made from selling the stolen dust to the White Fang were still there. At least he'd been able to make some money under the table before this joint got found out.

Behind him, Neo began to rifle through the file cabinet, taking out crystal after crystal of purely cut dust. It was the expensive type too. It would fetch more than a pretty penny on the black market.

All in all, it was a good thing the duo of Roman and Neo knew when to fold. Because, as of now, they were getting ready to leave the White Fang and Cinder's group to the cops.

After all, any good thief should be able to get in and out in a moment's notice.

**xxx**

**As you might be able to guess by now, the main theme of this story is chance. Or luck or casualty, whatever you want to call it. More specifically, that luck can swing either way, and sometimes shit just happens in completely unexpected ways. Blame the Random Number God for that. And let that be a lesson to you: never use dice to divine the future. Anyway, with any luck, I'm sure that you'll leave me a good review, right? I mean, that chance exists.**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm taking the chance to leave now!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Sun And Neptune Are Dead

**You know, it's kind of weird to look at the statistics of the stories you've written. I mean, everything thing you think your story is and will be can be put into a number. It's kind of bizarre. And slightly disappointing. Like, I know for a fact that people like my romantic comedies better than anything else. But, all I want is for people to like the other things I write, too. I don't want to just be boxed in a corner, only writing romantic comedy. That's why I'm writing this, after all. I mean, I won't stop after looking at the numbers for this story. All I'm saying is that I hope it isn't a sign of being a pigeonholed writer. Well, let's just get to the story. You've heard enough from me for now.**

**xxx**

There were a few things agreed on during the airship ride back to Beacon Academy. First of all, most of the group agreed that Weiss and Ruby only had ONE job to do, and they completely fucking blew it. After all, hanging around a café was the same as looking around hardware shops where a bomb maker could have gotten supplies, right? Wrong. Very wrong. Weiss and Ruby were verbally pissed on by the rest of the group for not actually helping in the slightest. But not literally, though. It wasn't nearly as kinky. This is a T-rated story, after all.

But, after the dust had settled, the group collectively agreed on one point: if they were going to chase after a criminal plot with its fingers all over Vale City's underground, they needed more supplies and backup. The inclusion of Roman Torchwick was a real wakeup call to Sun and Neptune. Before, they were just up against some random White Fang lackeys. But, if Roman was involved, that meant that someone was probably backing him. There was no way some asshole like him would get involved with the White Fang for charity. He was a thief, not a terrorist. That could only mean someone was offering something he wanted.

Sun and Neptune couldn't help but speculate why Roman was now involved in this bomb plot. Was it for money? Maybe for priceless jewels and gold? Or, perhaps by some twist of fate, he was forced into doing this for lack of a better choice? It was hard to tell. But, regardless, the reasons why weren't as important compared to the here and now.

So, when the airship docked at Beacon Academy's air dock, Sun and Neptune didn't even bother to say farewell to their companions for the day. They had one goal in mind: go to Ozpin to get some official help.

Currently, Sun and Neptune were walking down the path towards Ozpin's office. While Sun looked rather determined, Neptune couldn't help but doubt his own chances at saving the day. After all, today had just proven that chance can swing either way. Neptune had failed, while Sun had succeeded. Sun won a bet, and Neptune didn't think things through. It was like they were the two sides of a coin.

Bah, this was weighing too much on his mind. Neptune just needed to vent his frustration. "Hey, Sun?" he quietly asked.

"Yeah, what?" Sun replied.

"Do you think we're lucky?" the blue(?) haired hunter asked.

"…Lucky?" parroted Sun.

"Well, yeah," Neptune mumbled.

Sun scratched his messy blonde hair as he paused in thought. Then, after a brief moment, a cocky grin formed across his face. "Well, yeah!" he exclaimed. "How else have we fuckin' got this far?"

"Well, for you, maybe…" Neptune mused. "But what about us, you know, as a whole?"

"Why're you bein' this emo all the sudden?" Sun counter-asked. "I thought you were mister sir lady-killer motherfucker!"

Neptune gave a weak, docile shrug. "I dunno… I've been using the die… and I'm gettin' nothing much. Like, it's the high of lows all the time."

Sun couldn't help but laugh at his friend's perceived slight. "Bwhaahaha! Seriously?! Stop bein' such a fuckin' nerd, man!" he chuckled.

Neptune shot Sun a cold look. "I'm serious, man. What if… we don't have a chance at all? What if shit just happens, and we can't do anything? Huh? What about that? What if we're all drifting alone in this fucked up world, and luck won't even save us?! Huh?! What if we have no say in life at all?!" he suddenly ranted.

Sun stopped laughing at Neptune's outburst. It was really unlike him to suddenly have a panicking rant like that. And why was he being all deep and shit? It must have been weighing on his mind for a while, Sun guessed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I… uh… Can't really answer that. I mean, does it fuckin' matter? If you didn't know about it, would you be different?" Sun calmly mused.

With a heavy sigh, Neptune simply reached into his pocket and pulled out the green d20. Holding it between his fingers, he displayed it to Sun. "I've rolled this thing a dozen times already. And I keep on getting NOTHING conclusive! Just tens! What's that even supposed to mean?"

"Look, ya can't just base shit on some die. If ya roll it again I'm sure you'll get something other than ten." Sun dared.

Neptune suddenly held his hand in front of his partner. The pair of them stopped in the middle of the walkway. "Just watch," Neptune ordered. He briefly rattled the die in his hand before he tossed it into the air.

Both Sun and Neptune watched the small arc that the die made as it soared through the air. Then, gravity taking it's hold, it fell to the ground with a small clunk. The hunter pair leaned over the die to check the result. It was a ten. Sun simply raised his eyebrows, while Neptune took the opportunity to start up another existential rant.

"See?! Another ten! We have no choice! Or is the universe is just fucking with us?! It's chaos, but it isn't! ARRGGHHHH!" Neptune freaked out.

"Look, stop freakin' the fuck out, okay?" offered Sun. "We'll just roll again, okay?". Before Neptune could protest, Sun grabbed the d20 off of the ground and blew on it for good luck. With a heave, Sun tossed the die into the air.

The pair went dead still as they watched the die clatter to the ground again. Bending over, Sun and Neptune looked at the die again to see if anything changed. Nope, it didn't. It still landed on another ten.

Now Sun felt a little creeped out. Twice in a row was a little odd. "Weird…" he muttered.

"See what I mean?!" Neptune heatedly pointed out.

"Again!" Sun growled, taking the die once more. This time, he didn't even bother to do anything else. He just tossed it in the air as quickly as possible in order to end this fucking thing once and for all. Neptune didn't join him in looking at the result this time.

"Oh, come the fuck ON!" Sun groaned as he saw what side the die landed in. Indeed, it was yet another ten. Beside him, Sun could hear Neptune let out a strained whimper.

Now Sun was pissed. How could something this simple be frustrating him so much? Heatedly, he picked up the die and shoved it back into Neptune's limp hands. In his mind, he tried to work out what went wrong. The die wasn't weighed. Sun had worked with enough loaded die in his time to know the difference. And nothing else was affecting how the die was rolled. All he could come to was that the universe was just fucking over the d20.

"I'm done with your fuckin' die," Sun growled at Neptune before storming down the path.

Neptune briefly stared up at the sky. He suddenly got the distinct feeling that maybe some higher power was just playing with him and his friends. Damn nebulous cosmic forces. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Well, he guessed he only had himself to blame. After all, he regularly invoked chance through the use of his die. Perhaps it was a case of karmic balance.

Looking back down, Neptune then noticed that a significant distance was growing between him and Sun. Well, his existential crisis would have to be put on hold. He needed to catch back up to Sun. He DID have a duty to perform, after all.

With a brief sigh of resentment, Neptune resigned himself to his current fate. He then picked up his pace after Sun, hoping to catch up with his speed-walking partner.

**xxx**

Some time later, Neptune and Sun found themselves staring at the doors that led into Ozpin's office. It had taken them more than enough time to get here, considering the completely unintended and frustrating existential journey they'd taken along the way. But hey, now it was time to put that all behind them. Now they could tell Ozpin all about the bomb plot, and call in the cavalry they needed.

"Wonder if we're gonna interrupt, anything…" Neptune wondered out loud.

"Meh, Ozpin's a cool dude. He'll understand," Sun verbally waved away.

With that notion in mind, Sun reached out and pulled on the door handles. Nothing. The doors wouldn't budge. Frustrated, Sun tugged on the doors again. It did him no good. The doors were firmly locked.

"You've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me…" Sun cursed under his breath. He then kicked the door for good measure. Unlike a human, the door didn't immediately collapse under such a rough kick.

"He's not in there," Neptune observed.

"Thanks, Captain Fuckin' Obvious. Wanna report that to Private Dickcheese?" Sun spat at his partner.

"Hey, don't blame me!" Neptune cried.

With a frustrated sigh, Sun leaned against the wall and slid down into a seating position. He anxiously ran his hand through his hair, and then massaged his temples. Yeah, this is JUST what he fucking needed right about now.

Neptune decided to sit next to him on the floor. Together, the pair stared off into space, not saying a word. The silence permeated around the two for several frustrated, disappointed minutes. Subconsciously, Neptune pulled the d20 out of his pocket and rolled it around in his hand. He couldn't help but feel a little relieved at the familiar shape in his hand. Then, just taking things into chance, he dropped the die onto the ground.

Sun paid attention to Neptune was doing once he heard the small die clack against the floor. Leaning over, he tiredly asked Neptune, "What's it say?"

"Nothing we want to hear," Neptune bitterly replied. Sun already had a good idea in mind what the result would be.

Groaning, Sun leaned his head against the wall. "What the fuck are we supposed to do?" he asked the air. "Just fuckin' wait?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Neptune noted.

"How the fuck can we wait if the fuckin' city can just randomly blow up?" Sun rhetorically mused.

"We could always go back to the police…" Neptune suggested.

"I doubt they want our ugly mugs around there. I bet they're fucking pissed about the shit we did," Sun shot down.

Neptune pressed his lips together in a thin line. Opening his mouth, he then said, "We could just come here first thing tomorrow."

"Ya think?" Sun half-sarcastically asked. At this point, he was willing to accept that as an option. If nobody was going to show up this late in the afternoon, then he doubted Ozpin was coming back at all.

"I guess…" Neptune sighed.

With a prolonged grunt, Sun put his hand against the door and hauled himself to his feet. Bending and stretching his back, he felt a few segments of his spine snap and crackle. "Well, c'mon then. Let's just go home," he said. Sun then offered his hand to Neptune to help him up.

"First thing tomorrow. That's the plan, right?" Neptune questioned, a cautious look in his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Now let's go already," Sun replied.

Neptune briefly looked at Sun's hand before seizing it firmly. With ease, Sun helped Neptune get on his feet once more. Then, looking at each other's expressions, the duo turned their grip into a manly hand clasp.

"We're badasses, right?" Sun said to Neptune. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"You bet," Neptune replied, looking at the grin forming on Sun's face.

The detective pair shook hands. That's right. They could do this. They just needed to be in the right time and place. But, hey, if luck and chance were like a pendulum, it would eventually swing in their favor.

Right?

**xxx**

**I guess it's fair to say that this chapter is just the nerd version of **_**Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead**_**. I certainly don't mind. Liked the play and the movie. How can you not like the duo of Tim Roth and Gary Oldman? Right? Exactly. And I really like the themes presented there as well. Anyway, enough about my preference in plays. Instead, let me remind you to leave a review before you leave. It makes me write more, and also makes me feel better about my writing. So, please, go ahead and do that.**

**So, this has been The Draigg… And was I even here at all?**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Sun Shines Some Light On Several Things

**Let me ask you readers a question. Do you even read the author's notes anymore? Seriously, do you? I'm getting the distinct feeling that I can more or less put whatever I want up here, and nobody would really say anything. Like, if I just put the lyrics to a bunch of random anime theme songs, or if I just unleash an entire paragraph of curses and swears, would anyone notice? Or am I just talking to an empty chamber here? I honestly have no clue if anyone pay attention to what I put at the top here anymore. But, maybe that's a good thing. Look, that's beside the point now. Let's just get to the story.**

**xxx**

Ozpin normally liked his Sundays.

No, not the ice cream treat (those are preferred more by a different character entirely). We're taking about the day of the week here. Anyway, back on track, Ozpin liked to enjoy his Sundays. It was a day where he was free to drink coffee in his office, look out on Beacon Academy with satisfaction, and dodge petty complaint calls from those bastards on the inter-kingdom council. Seriously, those officials loved to get on Ozpin for whatever reason they could. It was always things like "You're using up too much funding," or "We're taking away funding," or "Your school cafeteria has had enough cases of food poisoning to get at least a dozen health agencies involved,". Okay, maybe that last one was a legitimate point. But, it wouldn't be, if Beacon actually got the funding it needed.

That last point struck a nerve in Ozpin. Quickly swallowing the bit of coffee he had in his mouth, he leaned over to the side of his desk. Grabbing a post-it note and a pen, he made a memo to himself: "_Look into better food service alternatives._"

Ozpin stuck the note on the edge of his desk, where he was bound to see it when he sat there again. Putting his writing materials back in their proper places, Ozpin leaned back in his chair and took a long sip of coffee. Yep, he could afford to take this day somewhat easy.

Just when he'd settled in his office hair quite nicely, he heard a notification pop up on his computer. Adjusting his seating, Ozpin looked at the little box. Ah, it was a notification from Glynda Goodwitch, his fine assistant. It read: "_Wukong and Vasilias are requesting a meeting with you. Should I let them in?_"

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee. Well, today was supposed to be his (mostly) off day. Still, he was a teacher and hunter at heart. Who was he to deny tow students the opportunity to meet with him? It was not only his duty, but his honor to serve his students in the best way imaginable. Plus, at least some had something interesting to talk about, other than grades.

Replying, Ozpin typed back, "_Of course. Let them in. I'm free to see them right now._"

With a press of the 'enter' key, Ozpin looked at his sent message. All he needed to do now was wait for two of his hunters-in-training to show up and—

The doors of Ozpin's office suddenly swung open and in stepped none other than Sun Wukong and his partner, Neptune Vasilias. "Hey, Professor! We've got news for ya!" the blonde monkey Faunus loudly announced as he walked towards the desk.

Ozpin stood up to greet the duo. "Well, you two look like you have something important to tell me," he observed. At the same time, he waved the hunters to have a seat at the front of the desk.

Sun and Neptune both sat in the comfortable chairs at the same time. Slouching, Sun continued on his train of thought. "Seriously, man. This is serious stuff. Like, space-cancer serious."

Neptune winced at the insensitive comment that Sun made. "…What my partner means is that we've got some info on a White Fang plan that you're gonna want to hear," added Neptune, not before shooting his partner an unamused look.

Ozpin sat back in his chair. Staring at the two, he steepled his hands in front of him, on the desk. "If you have any information on ANY terrorist activities, it's in everyone's best interest to tell me."

Sun and Neptune nodded in agreement.

"So, with that being said, why don't you start from the top?" Ozpin asked.

That made Sun and Neptune look at each other briefly. Turning to Ozpin, Neptunne asked, "Are you sure, from the top?"

"Right," nodded Ozpin.

"Well, alright then," Sun sighed. Before he began to speak, he sat up straighter in his chair. "Okay, well, it starts the day after we were taken off the junior detective program…"

**xxx**

About an hour later, Ozpin was beginning to regret his exact choice of words. So far, he'd heard how the pair had struggled with their depression after being taken off the police force, how Sun had planned to try and talk to him yesterday, and some odd existential crisis involving a twenty-sided die the pair had faced yesterday. They'd gone over every detail except for the important info. Seriously, they should have edited their planned conversation beforehand, so only the important details remained.

"And so then, it was another ten, and I was like, "Naw, that ain't right", so I—" Sun rambled on.

Ozpin had finally had enough. "May I interrupt you there, Mr. Wukong? So far, I've heard every part of your day, except for the important info you wanted to tell me. Unless this ties into your report, can we please just get to the White Fang plot?"

Sun pursed his lips together. "Well, you DID say ya wanted it from the top," he offered in his defense.

"The plot, Mr. Wukong," Ozpin firmly demanded.

"Right…" began Sun. "Well, here's the thing. Ya know that one guy we caught with that crash? Yeah, he was workin' for the White Fang. Like, a buddy of 'em or whatever. Anyway, he saw a buncha bomb makin' stuff in the van. Wires, pipes, detonators, all that jazz. So, we piece the clues together, and did some dirt diggin'."

Picking up where Sun left off, Neptune began to explain as well. "We got help from Team RWBY yesterday. So, we went into Vale City, where we tried to pick up on any fresh clues, other than the ones we put together. After a bit, we finally got a big one: Roman Torchwick's working with the White Fang. He bought at least five bombs for them. Now, we don't know what he's doing with the White Fang, or what they're planning. But, sir, we can say that we're going to need some help on this one. So, uh, that's why we came to you first. Yeah…"

Ozpin drummed his fingers together as he absorbed all of that information. It was a rather large info-dump, after all. After a minute of silence, Ozpin silently got up from his desk chair, and walked over to a nearby filing cabinet. Sun and Neptune couldn't help but look on in confusion as he opened the largest drawer and began to rummage around for something.

After a minute or so of searching, Ozpin seemed to have found what he was looking for. Walking back to his side of the desk, he placed two badges on the desk, along with two standard service revolvers.

"I'm putting you back on the force," he calmly said. "You're to go back to the Vale police to gather as much information as you can. I want you to find where the hideout of the White Fang is. Or, failing that, where the bombs are to be placed. Understood?"

Sun eagerly grabbed the badge off of the desk, while Neptune cast them a rather confused look at the other badge and guns. "Uhh… sir?" Neptune pointed out, "We… never gave you our badges OR our guns…"

Ozpin stared blankly at Neptune for a second, before reaching over and snatching the badge out of Sun's hand. Looking at it closer, Ozpin noticed it wasn't a junior detective badge, but a real one, used by the VCPD. Without a word, Ozpin scooped back up the guns and badges and walked back over to the cabinet. Dumping the goods back into their drawer, he muttered under his breath, "I should remember to return those…"

"Aww…" Sun disappointedly groaned to himself. Man, it was so close to being right of a cop action flick! So close!

"Anyway," Ozpin briskly continued, completely ignoring the previous odd occurrence. "When you accomplish either objective, I'll assign you a hunter team to assist you in stopping the plot one and for all. Is this all understood?"

"Right, sir!" Neptune said with a crisp nod.

"Fuckin' crystal!" added Sun. That got him a sharp glare from Neptune. Understanding this, Sun wasted no time in correcting himself. "I mean, I understand perfectly."

"Good, good. You're dismissed," Ozpin said, standing up.

As the duo of Sun and Neptune walked out of the office doors, Sun made sure to yell back, "Thanks a lot, chief!"

Ozpin made sure to give a small nod in return. But, as the doors closed, he sat back into his office chair, a little confused. Sun had just called him chief again. Did that student somehow delude himself into thinking he was in some sort of police procedural show? Given the way he'd delivered the report on his day for the past hour, it was almost like he was trying to be one of those loose-cannon types.

Sighing, Ozpin waved that idea away. There were odder students that attended Beacon Academy before. And that's not even getting into the one that thought she was some sort of masked rider who dispensed justice. She had to spend at least two terms in the hospital in an ill-guided attempt to land a kick from a moving motorcycle. That move nearly got Beacon a lawsuit, due to the student's parent's misguided attempt to find someone to blame. It wouldn't be the first (or last, for that matter) case of that occurring.

But, Ozpin had to admit, being called "chief" was a new one. If anything, he was a little surprised that it hadn't happened already. After all, he had legitimate badges and guns to hand out. Oh, that's right, the badges and guns! He'd nearly forgotten!

Swiveling his chair to the side of his desk, Ozpin grabbed his post-it notes and pen again. Clicking the push button on the top of the pen, he wrote another note to himself. It read: "_Remember to give back badges and guns in the drawer. And offer to pay for any damages it may have caused._"

Satisfied with the note, the headmaster of Beacon Academy stuck it next to his earlier message. Well, it looked like his Sunday had been a little more productive than he'd originally thought, all things considered.

But, enough of serious business time. He had a pot of coffee that Glynda was brewing that just begged to him to be enjoyed. It would be an affront to himself and Glynda if he didn't drink every drop of it. Heck, he might as well bring along Professor Oobleck to enjoy it. At least that hyper-active history fan had a real appreciation for the art of caffeinated-beverage brewing.

Yeah, that sounded like an excellent idea. Picking up his scroll, Ozpin began to lay out his plan for the rest of the day. Really, one of the most important men on all of Remnant could afford to take a small break, right? He had faith that his (somewhat) completely sane and rational students could pull through and save the day for the good of everyone.

After all, that's what they were being trained for, right?

**xxx**

**You know what? I'm just going to skip over the normal begging for reviews and just leave some song lyrics here in case anyone notices. Consider it a test. So, on that note, please enjoy the untranslated lyrics to Space Runaway Ideon's theme, **_**Fukkatsu no Ideon:**_

_**Kikoeru ka kikoeru darou harukana todoroki/Yami no naka kokoro yusaburu mezame hajimaru**_

_**Daichi wari sosori tatsu sugata seigi no akashi ka/Densetsu no kyojin no chikara ginga kirisaku**_

_**Otakebi ga denkou sekka no ichigeki o yobu/Furueruna hitomi korase yo fukkatsu no toki**_

_**Hito yo inochi yo hajimari o miru**_

_**Supeesu rannauei Ideon Ideon/Supeesu rannauei Ideon Ideon**_

_**Tatakau ka tatakaeru ka obieru kokoro yo/Semari kuru aku no chikara ni yuuki o shimese**_

_**Sora ni tobu kagayaku sugata inochi no sakebi ka/Densetsu no kyojin no chikara ginga kirisaku**_

_**Hissatsu no waza ga utsu no wa waga mi na no ka to/Osoreruna kokoro hirake yo fukkatsu no toki**_

_**Hito yo inochi yo chikara o miru**_

_**Supeesu rannauei Ideon Ideon/Supeesu rannauei Ideon Ideon**_


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Just One Long Lock N' Load Montage

**_Supessu rannuei Ideon Ideon / Spessu rannuei Ideon Ideon_****—**

**Ha! Just kidding. I won't put you folks through that again. Maybe. Probably. I mean, I already got flogged for it, so there's a chance it won't happen again. Instead, I should congratulate you folks for putting up with the previous' chapter's bullshit. So, congratulations! From here on out, just expect more of the normal rambling author's notes. Probably. Unless I lose my shit again. Anyways, let's just get along with the chapter, shall we?**

**xxx**

Sun and Neptune were more than elated when they got what they wanted from Ozpin. In fact, Sun was feeling so happy, that he could have just started dancing right then and there. But, he didn't. He wasn't some fucking nerd. What type of weird person just starts busting out moves out of nowhere, in the middle of the god damn sidewalk? Not Sun, that's who.

"Dude, this is fuckin' sick!" Sun exclaimed with an enormous grin.

"I know! We're really back on now!" agreed Neptune.

Sun's large smile faded slightly as she began to think. Sure, they were back on the force, but what now? Clearly, what they did the last time upset somebody in the VCPD enough to just sell them out to Ozpin. The real question was what to do in order to change that. They needed to become even better cops than before. And, of course, that meant they needed to be even more like their on-screen predecessors than Sun thought. That decision was entirely logical, after all. They just weren't cop-like enough. Obviously, they hadn't reached their peaks yet. And when he and Neptune peaked, everyone in Vale was going to feel it. It would wash over everyone in Vale City, and just drench everyone from head to toe in their manliness. No, that wasn't gay sounding at all.

"Dude…" Sun thought out loud. "We need to get back in the fuckin' game! I'm talkin' blazers n' slacks, wife beater shirts and no shoes, that type of shit! We're gonna go on the fuckin' edge!"

Neptune merely scratched his head at that thought. "Uh… It's didn't really do us anything when we did that before…" he noted.

"We didn't go FAR ENOUGH, bro! We're gonna need to get deep in that shit! What'd ya say?" Sun asked.

Neptune weighed his options in his mind. On the one hand, this wasn't going to accomplish much other than just get a wardrobe and weapons ready. On the other hand, he was feeling great today, and he was willing to play along with Sun's suggestion. Hell, it wasn't like it would affect his luck any. …Well, not exactly. He didn't know that for sure, but he sure as hell wasn't going to check the d20 to find out. What Neptune really needed was to see if his chances and luck stuck out on their own.

"…Eh, sure. Why not?" Neptune decided with a shrug.

His grin returning, Sun draped an arm over Neptune's shoulder. "That's more like it! I'mma make a real fuckin' cop outta you!" he proudly declared with a grand sweeping gesture of his other hand.

"You too…" Neptune muttered.

"Yeah, that too," Sun added quickly.

As the duo walked off towards their dorm room, Neptune couldn't help but wonder what Sun had in mind for him. Probably more cop suits and stuff. Well, it couldn't be all that bad, could it? In fact, it might be fun! …Neptune hoped.

**xxx**

_(Approaching White Fang/The infernal army/The black shadow aims for us)_

Sun dumped way more clothes than Neptune thought he had onto his bunk. Unzipping one of the clothes bags, Sun revealed to Neptune that he already had a few ideas for Neptune's cop look. Neptune could only raise his eyebrows in confusion and slight disapproval. He was free to make his own choices! He brushed the jacket that Sun was showing him away from his face.

_(Protecting the peace of the world/Go! Go!/Let's go!/The shining police duo!)_

After waiting about ten minutes for Sun to get changed in the bathroom, Neptune let out a small sigh of relief when the door finally creaked open. It swung on its hinges, revealing Sun wearing only a white tank top and black dress pants. Hell, he wasn't even wearing shoes or socks. Neptune firmly shook his head at Sun's costume choice. He motioned with his hand for Sun to head back into the bathroom and change. With his head hung a little low, a slightly disappointed Sun shut the bathroom door.

_(Sun Jump! Neptune Kick!/Police Duo, Police Duo!/Duo, Duo!)_

Sun tossed Neptune a bundle of clothes with a huff. Now it was his turn to change into what a REAL cop would wear (despite seeing many clear examples down at the station). Neptune tried to protest, and he shook his head. Sun didn't really pay any of that any heed. Instead, he resorted to shoving Neptune into the bathroom to change against his will. It didn't matter if he wanted to do it, he WAS going to do it.

_(Approaching White Fang/The demonic army/The black shadow aims for our friends)_

Neptune exited the bathroom, wearing what Sun had selected for him. He wasn't all too pleased with what he got. Was Sun under the impression that he dressed like a fifty year old man? Seriously, this suit was something his own dad would wear. It had leather elbow patches. LEATHER. ELBOW. PATCHES. There was no way Neptune was going to let that shit fly in his dorm room. Before Sun could even comment on his clothes, Neptune slammed the bathroom door shut, intent on changing back into his regular clothes.

_(Protecting the peace of the world/Go! Go!/Let's go!/The crimson blooded heroes!)_

The next time Sun walked out of the bathroom, he was wearing the exact same thing he wore on the first day he was a junior detective. Down to the same flannel shirt, letterman jacket, and worn pants. Nothing at all had changed. It was if he was convinced that his getup was the de-facto look for loose-cannon cops. Neptune couldn't help but shake his head at Sun's choice again. He didn't need to be a loose-cannon cop. He needed a code of honor, like a samurai. That's right, Sun needed to be a samurai cop. So, with another wave of his hand, Neptune sent Sun to change again.

_(Sun Jump! Neptune Kick!/Police Duo, Police Duo!/Duo, Duo!)_

This time around, Neptune could wrap his head around what Sun had selected for him. While he had to admit, it was a little dated, it had a nice retro feel to it. And, if what all of his books and magazines told him, the retro look was in right now. And, more importantly, ladies loved retro fashion. So, when he walked out of the bathroom to show Sun how he looked, he didn't mind that much. And, Sun seemed to not mind either. The monkey Faunus had to admit, the blue t-shirt, cream white blazer, jeans, and black riding boots looked pretty fucking sick on Neptune. But, something seemed to be off… Wait, that was it! Reaching over into a clothing bag, Sun grabbed a pair of aviator sunglasses and tossed them towards Neptune. His partner caught them midair and slipped them on his face. Yeah, now it was perfect! Neptune had found his cop look!

_(Approaching White Fang/The terrifying army/The black shadow aims for our town)_

Sun had spent more than enough time in the bathroom. As Neptune sat on the bed, he hoped that Sun wasn't wasting his time by changing into something he'd already seen. Of course, his hopes were immediately dashed as Sun came out of the bathroom, wearing the tank top and dress pants he had put on the first time. Did he seriously think that he only had two choices to make? Then what the hell was the point of all the clothes on the bags he had? Wait, where did he even get all those clothes? Sun was fucking poor! Knowing him, Sun had probably stolen them for this exact situation. Oh well, there was nothing Neptune could do about it now. With a frustrated sigh, Neptune massaged his temples. Sun didn't even need to be told to go change this time around. The look on his partner's face told him all he needed to know.

_(Protecting the peace of the world/Go, Go!/Let's go!/The green colored die!)_

Okay, now Neptune knew for a fact that Sun didn't know what he was doing. Well, at least it was a different wardrobe choice than before. This time, Sun had chosen to put on a tight pair of jeans, some white tennis shoes, and a tucked in blue denim work shirt. It was the same color as his pants, which just made it even weirder to look at. And, of course, the shirt was half unbuttoned. But, considering that Sun normally wore his shirts unbuttoned to show off his abs, this might as well have been expected. Noticing that Neptune was looking at him more intently, Sun decided to do a cool pose for him. So, he did a roundhouse kick, with his leg raised high in the air. Because of that, Neptune couldn't help but notice three things: those jeans were REALLY tight around the ass, Sun's tail was tucked in his pants, coiled around his rear, and that Sun now looked like a washed-up action movie star from three decades ago. Neptune got up from his seat on the bed and shoved Sun back into the bathroom, hoping to end this shit-show sooner.

_(Sun Jump! Neptune Kick!/Police Duo, Police Duo!/Duo, Duo!)_

Neptune was close to strangling Sun by now. Not only had he wasted at least three hours trying to find the right clothes for them to wear, but now he'd spent about twenty minutes in the bathroom, changing into another set of clothes. If this wasn't going to be the set of clothes he was going to wear, then Neptune was going to have to call in some reverse-police brutality. While he was lost in thought, Neptune didn't notice Sun walk out of the bathroom to show off what he put on. It took a few snaps of his fingers for Sun to get Neptune's attention.

Okay, now this was an outfit Neptune could agree with. It combined classy, and badass hard-boiled detective. It was Sun's regular white button-up shirt, except buttoned up most of the way. He had a loose red tie around his neck, and his collar was slightly pulled open. In addition, Sun had a faded black pinstriped vest and gun holster. Combined with the dark trousers from earlier, Sun really did give off the vibe of a cool, hardcore detective. Maybe one who's been on the force for a while and a little world-weary, but still awesome enough to take on most cases singlehandedly.

Flashing Sun a thumbs up and a smile, Neptune gave his approval to Sun's outfit. Sun pumped his fist up and down in the air in victory. He'd finally found his look after all!

**xxx**

"Man, that took a while," Neptune observed, laying on his bed.

"No kidding," agreed Sun, who wouldn't stop fiddling around with his tie. Even though it was lose around his neck, he still acted like it was an executioner's noose around his throat.

"So… What now?" Neptune asked.

"…Well, we can get our guns n' shit in gear," Sun replied.

"Really? We already have all the stuff we need," Neptune pointed out.

"Huh. Well… wanna just get something to eat?" Sum limply suggested, the wind taken out of his sails.

"Yeah," Neptune said. Giving a glance over to the clock on the wall, he noted, "It's nearly dinner time, anyway."

"Really, huh? Man, time fuckin' flies…" Sun muttered. "Wanna get some tacos?"

"Nah…. Not the cafeteria ones, anyway," Neptune sighed.

"Well, what do cops eat? I mean, other than donuts," Sun mused out loud.

"Hot dogs?" suggested Neptune while he sat up.

Sun nodded the more he thought about it. Yeah, if his memory served him correctly, cops always liked to get hot dogs from a street vender while they walked down the street and discussed a case. Well, that's what television taught him, anyway. That was good enough for him.

"Yeah, I'm down for that," Sun finally decided.

First dressing like a cop, and now he was eating like one! What could possibly be next?

Probably the case, but that could wait.

Those hot dogs needed some attention, after all.

**xxx**

**I'm going to give you readers a challenge. What I want you to do, is try to name all the references that I put in this chapter. It won't be easy! But, since I'm feeling generous today, like the benevolent god that I am, I'll just give you a freebie. The montage song is a slight tweaking of the Kamen Rider theme song. Gotta like them henshins, man! And motorcycles! I'm sure Yang gets it. Just go ahead and leave your guesses in the reviews section for me to check out!**

**This has been The Draigg, and it's time to transform! HENSHIN!**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Picking Up Where They Left Off

**Hey, you! Get burning! Feel the heat! Yeah!**

**Now that you're sufficiently pumped up, are you ready for a chapter, or what? Yeah, I bet you are! Are you god damn ready for an adventure, or what? Yeah, totally! I'm ready for this adventure too! You want to know why? Because I have no clue how the hell I'm going to get from where I am now to what I want as an ending. But hey, that doesn't mean I won't provide you with the usual standard of action/comedy! Let's just say that it'll come together in the end! Now, let's get going!**

**xxx**

Sun and Neptune stood on the steps of the VCPD that Monday afternoon. They couldn't help but get the feeling of déjà vu, starting at the front entrance. Sure, it was a little different, considering that they were excused from their later classes for this assignment, and that the pair was wearing the cop threads they picked out yesterday. And the time of the day was different, obviously. But, other than those points, it was more or less the same as the first time.

"We're gonna go to the chief, right?" Neptune asked Sun out of the blue. It was probably a good idea to go over their expected plan of action.

"Right. I mean, Beacon shoulda called ahead, right?" Sun replied.

At that, the pair returned their attention back to the front of the police station. Even though they head to go in there for their hunter assignment, the both of them couldn't help but feel an odd atmosphere surrounding the building. They just couldn't put their finger on it, but something about the building itself just seemed kinda… off.

Well, they couldn't delay the inevitable anymore. They needed to go inside and get back to being detectives. The fate of Vale City could possibly rest on their shoulders! Without further ado, Sun walked up the steps first, with Neptune following closely behind. Once Sun reached the double doors, he held one open for Neptune to walk through. Following after him, Sun couldn't help but note that despite the odd aura of the building, he was really excited to be there. Maybe things would be better once he talked to the chief.

Walking up to the receptionist's desk, Sun readied himself to welcomed back with open arms. Cops looked out for their own, right?

**xxx**

About fifteen minutes later, Sun was starting to get the idea that cops did NOT in fact look out for their own.

Judging from the mixture of 40% strangled laughs, 50% bewildered looks, and 30% glares, Sun now realized that maybe their departure from the department wasn't exactly all that unwelcome. And yes, that adds up 120%. That just goes to show how weird and awkward all of this was for the pair of Neptune and Sun.

"Dude… What the fuck's up with these ass clowns?" Sun whispered to Neptune as they walked through the offices of the police department.

"I'm sure crashing their shit had something to do with it," Neptune tensely whispered back. On reflex, he reached into his pocket and began to play with the d20. It just seemed like he was doing it more and more the more time he spent as a junior detective. Man, he could really use a break after all this was through. All the stress was bound to give him some grey hairs.

"Good point…" Sun grumbled, reaching into his vest pocket. Pulling out a lighter and a cigarette, Sun lit up the tip and began to smoke.

That action alone nearly made Neptune's eyes bug out of their sockets. "What the hell are you doing?!" Neptune hissed.

Sun took a drag before answering. Unfortunately, as he wasn't all that used to smoking, his answer was delivered through a series of nasty coughs. "*Hack*Cops fu- *wheeze* fuckin' smoke *cough*, right? *rasp*"

Neptune immediately snatched the cigarette limply hanging from Sun's lips and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. "Seriously, man! Think before you act! It isn't good for you!" he lectured.

"Sorry, MOM. I had no idea you cared so much about my lungs," Sun sneered in response.

"I can't have you do dumb shit that leads to a huge disaster! Think about it, smoking is gonna hurt how strong you are!" continued Neptune.

"Fuckin' please, it's not like I'm lightin' my lungs on fire or anything!" Sun exclaimed back.

Neptune was beginning to get frustrated with Sun. But, he knew that arguing with his partner was an argument that he either couldn't win, or drag out to absolute insanity. So, rubbing his temples, the blue(?) haired hunter asked, "Look, can we just drop it? We've more important stuff to do."

Sun shoved his hands in his pants pockets. "Fine…" he muttered, looking at the floor as he walked.

"Anyway," Neptune said, "we need to approach the chief in the right way. I mean, he probably isn't happy with us wrecking his van. So, I think that we should just try to be as nice as possible, and try not to mess things up TOO badly. Right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Sun said, looking back at Neptune.

By now, the hunter duo was closing in on Chief Irons' office door. It was now or never, do or die. They needed to knock this one out of the park, make it into the end zone, go fuck the prom queen, and just flat out succeed. Any other metaphor would fit that description as well.

The lettering on the door seemed to stand out to Sun and Neptune as they got closer and closer. Behind that door was their next, and probably last, chance to be the badass buddy-cop duo that the city would absolutely love. For being badasses, of course.

By now, the partners were standing in front of the door. Behind the frosted glass of the office door, they could see the outline of Chief Irons sitting at his desk. Bracing themselves for fate, Sun reached out, and opened the door.

"Yo, chief! We're here to help!" Sun called out as he and Neptune walked in.

Chief Irons looked up briefly from the file that he was looking at, and grunted out, "Oh, it's you two. You better have somethin' good for me. Your pals at Beacon personally vouched for ya, after all."

That was… a bit of a colder reception than what Sun and Neptune hoped. But, they had to roll with it. Settling into the chairs in front of the chief's desk, the pair patiently waited for the chief to say something to them.

The file folder slapped shut under Chief Irons' hand. He slid it over to the edge of the desk, towards Sun and Neptune. "Beacon said you had dirt on Torchwick. I wanna know what you know," he said, pointing out the picture of Roman Torchwick stapled to the folder's cover.

Sun leaned forwards in his chair and scooted towards the desk a little more. "Ya want the long, or the short version?"

"Short," Chief Irons replied. "I've got enough shit to do today."

"Okay…" Sun mused. After briefly remembering and abridging the important details, Sun began to explain what happened. "I talked to an underground info dealer. I think it was… Junior? I think that's his name… Anyway, I gambled for a buncha info relating to the Kira guy. I mean, you've probably seen the White Fang and bomb stuff you found in his van, right?"

"Right," Irons grunted.

"Yeah. So, I wanted to know if anyone was in the market for bombs. Turns out, our sticky-fingered friend bought at least enough stuff for five bombs. So, me n' Neptune put two n' two together and figured that Torchwick was involved with the White Fang bomb stuff. Why else would a thief buy bomb stuff, unless he was workin' for the White Fang? I mean, you already heard about him usin' White Fang guys to steal that dust at the docks a while ago. I mean, it fits together! So, Torchwick's involved with their bomb plan!" summarized Sun.

Chief Irons leaned back into his desk chair as he absorbed the data that Sun had given him. He had to admit, even if the kid was a fuck-up, his intuition made sense. Plus, his theory made logical sense, considering the past events that he had mentioned. So, all of this pointed to Torchwick working on bombs for the White Fang. That meant that not only did the police force have a case, they had a lead, too.

"Okay… I get what you're sayin'…" Chief Irons began. "Tell ya what, I can use you two."

That line made Neptune and Sun perk up a little.

"I want you to try and find more dirt on Torchwick. Maybe a White Fang guy too. Any one of them would work. We need to get more info, that's for sure." The chief explained.

"Where should we start, sir?" Neptune asked, wanting to get in on this conversation.

"Sounds like ya can get a lot from this Junior guy. Ya should see if you can get anything more from him," Chief Irons suggested.

"And the White Fang?" Sun added.

"Keep an eye out. I know for a fact some stick out like a sore thumb. It can't be all that hard to find one n' follow 'em," Chief Irons continued further.

"Got it, sir," Neptune affirmed.

"Crystal!" Sun added with a shit-eating grin. Wow, it was really happening now!

"Great. Now we can—" Chief Irons tried to say. But, for some reason, an alarm began to ring loudly through the entire building. Wait, it was a fire alarm!

As the inhabitants of the office looked around in confusion, a uniformed officer suddenly burst through the door. He was nearly out of breath, and his eyes were full of panic.

"Sir! There's a fire in the hallway!" the officer announced, his voice almost cracking from stress.

"A fire?!" Sun, Neptune, and Chief Irons exclaimed at once.

"C'mon, we need to put it out!" the officer shouted, before running back down the hall.

It took no time for Chief Irons to get out of his chair and jog out of his office. All that was left in the office was a very confused Sun and Neptune. What the heck was going on? A fire?!

Neptune's inner monologue thought, "_A fire in the hall? What caused that? Maybe it was some of those people smoking around here. Did someone forget to put out their cigarette- Ohhh… Oh shit…_"

A look of horrified realization crossed Neptune's face. Now he knew what was going on. He may have, sort of, kind of forgot to put out Sun's smoke before tossing the butt into the trash. Ah, that made sense. Horrible, horrible sense. It was almost as if Neptune was cursed to start trashcan fires in public service buildings. What an oddly specific and terrible fate indeed.

"Uhh, Sun? We should probably get outta here," Neptune suggested.

"Right," Sun quickly agreed. He sure as hell wasn't interested in being roasted alive. He was a cop, not a god damn fireman. If he wanted to be that, then he would have tried to put in for that hunter assignment instead.

An awkward, brief beat grew between the two. Then, with the coordination that only two simultaneously fleeing people could have, Sun and Neptune sprang out of their seats and ran out of the office. They needed to get out, and get out FAST. They sprinted out of the office area, through the front lobby and holding area, and out of the building in record time. Their time would put someone like Ruby to shame. Fire was a weird motivator like that.

It was an odd thing that the pair wanted to leave for slightly different reasons, though.

Oh well, such was the universe. It really did have a weird sense of humor.

**xxx**

**You know, looking back, I really do have odd running gags for the characters I write about. Blake being hit in the head, Ren suffering through everyone ignoring him on stuff he knows about, a rather unfortunate sex act involving dust for Yang and Blake, and now Neptune accidentally starting fires in trashcans. At this rate, the characters are just going to become neurotic messes. Well, if they aren't those already. Anyways, feel free to tell me what you think about Neptune's unintentional arson in the reviews section!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm telling you to FEEL THE HEAT, BABY!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Time Wasting, Mechs, And Shock Videos

**Hey, readers! Another nugget of The Draigg's InfoNotes (Trademarked)! Did you know that green is statistically the most badass color in the color spectrum? Now, I know what you're thinking: "The Draigg, isn't red the color most associated with badassery?". Well, you'd be kind of right. Red is a cool color. But, ask yourself this: what color is Spiral Energy, Getter Rays, Bronze Bell Energy, G-Stone Energy, and The Ideon's logo? Therefore, green is the color that kicks the most ass. I rest my case. Anyway, with that little nugget of truth (Trademarked) out of the way, let's get to the story!**

**xxx**

Meanwhile, while a fire was burning in a police station on the other side of Vale City, something else was being burned by a certain Roman Torchwick. More specifically he was burning time on the clock.

Ever since he'd squirreled away his (even more) ill-gotten money and got ready to abandon Cinder, he shit-kids, and the White Fang, Roman and Neo had only shown back up to the warehouse hide out to keep up appearances. After all, if someone found out what they were planning for, they might kill the criminal pair. Or worse, take their money away from them. Now THAT was a fate worse than death. Roman personally wanted to be cremated with at least a million lien when he died. And as for Neo… well, she needed to fund her ice cream addiction somehow.

So, along those lines, Roman and Neo had been hiding away in the warehouse office for most, if not all of the day. Between getting Perry to bring him in a bunch of pizzas and having a stable internet connection, Roman was pretty satisfied with the lack of anything accomplished by himself today. He could tell that Neo was feeling the same way, judging by the look on her face as she played around with her double tomahawk.

Yeah, Roman could definitely say that today was a pretty good day.

Of course, fate really gets a hatred boner when it gets tempted. So, of course, the inevitable happened.

At first, there was a polite knock on the door. Then, less than a second later, heavy greaves kicked open the office door. In strolled Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald. Or, as they were called by Roman (in addition to numerous other nicknames) Fire Crotch and her Bitch Brigade of Dick Kids.

Roman barely lifted his gaze above his computer screen and rolled his eyes. "Sure, just walk in. It's not like its RUDE or anything," he sneered.

"Please, Roman," Cinder coolly said, "We knocked."

"And then kicked in the door," Roman added.

"That's beside the point," Cinder quickly added.

"Yeah. We've got actual work for you," Mercury dismissively said in Roman's direction.

"Oh, goodie. What is it? Changing your diapers?" snarked Roman.

"No, we need you to kick out your boyfriend," Mercury shot back.

That made Roman fully glare at Mercury. "Kiddo, I've got more puss than the one between your legs. Do I even LOOK gay to you?"

"Completely," Mercury said immediately.

"Yeah, kinda," Emerald added.

"…" Neo added, wanting to get into this conversation. Now this was getting fun.

Roman glared at Neo. "And what's gay about dressing nicely and wearing a little eyeliner and foundation? Huh?!"

"Wait, don't you have a pride parade to attend? Sorry to bother you then," Mercury continued.

"…" added Neo with a small, wheezing giggle.

"Oh, don't YOU get started," Roman snarled at Neo. "You have absolutely NO room to talk!"

Neo simply shrugged and gave a cheeky smirk. She knew that Roman wasn't gay, but man, it was a rare and fine treat to see her partner in crime get this angry and flustered. But, she had to admit to herself that if Roman didn't want to come off as gay, then he should ditch at least the makeup. He'd probably look better without it, anyway.

Around this point, Cinder stepped between the two bickering criminals. "As much as this is cute, we have work to do," she said to Roman and Mercury.

Mercury lowered his gaze to the floor. "Sorry…" he muttered to Cinder.

"Hmmph," Roman huffed.

Turning to Roman, Cinder ordered, "Follow us. There's something that you need to deal with in storage."

"Yes, ma'am," Roman said with a mocking salute. Getting up from his desk chair, Roman walked out of his office. He made sure to bump Mercury on the way out, making him stager back a little. The silver-haired henchman didn't notice Roman's petty smirk as he walked out of the door.

Neo gave a small wave goodbye as the rest of the group walked out of the office. And, she allowed herself a small laugh when she saw Mercury give Roman the middle finger behind his back. Wow, it was so petty it was funny. Cinder was the last one out, closing the door behind her.

Ah, now she was completely alone. Nothing or nobody could stop her from doing her… other hobbies now. But, just to be safe, Neo got up from her chair and locked the office door. There, now it was perfect.

Neo slid into Roman's desk chair and dumped her double tomahawk onto the table top. She didn't really need it for one of her favorite pastimes. Opening a new tab on Roman's open internet browser, she typed into the search engine "_Three guys, one vice grip_".

As Neo opened the page, she briefly made a mental note to just bookmark the video's page. She certainly did visit that site frequently enough. That site was grade-A spank material for her.

Then, with one last look around, Neo confirmed that nobody could see her. Good. She wouldn't be able to live down the shame if anyone caught her in the act. Heck, she might have to murder someone if they found out. Yet again, Neo wouldn't mind. She'd get the same feeling in her stomach and down lower, compared to the video she was about to watch.

Yeah, that was something Neo could get behind. Nobody would notice a random White Fang member missing. They looked all the same with their masks and uniforms anyway, right?

On second thought, Neo didn't need that video. The image that popped into her head was more than enough for her needs. So, exited out the tab and closed her eyes, focusing on her fresh idea. Watching the light go out of someone's eyes as they struggled to breathe… Feeling their skin grow clammy as they fought to get free…

Needless to say, Neo really did enjoy her time in the office.

**xxx**

Meanwhile, in a situation that wasn't a mixture of titillating and horrifying, Roman groaned as he realized what the Shit-Eaters Society dragged him away from his shopping to do.

Walking into one of the bigger back storage rooms, Roman was led towards the line of mechs lining the side wall. Really, they were some high class weapon platforms. The Paladins alone could crush a hundred people into a fine, pinkish paste. But, to Roman's detriment, he knew that his employers weren't interested in talking about those.

The group stopped in front of one mech in particular. For the most part, it was similar to the Paladin. Hell, it was built by the same people inside the same factory. The serial information on the inside of the cockpit said so. It was the MCP 772 Shiden that the group was looking at.

Now, the MCP 772 Shiden was the cutting edge of the cutting edge. Built as the bigger, badder brother of the Paladin mobile platforms, the Shiden boasted many features that a baseline mech could never have. On its shoulders rested its main guns, the Vector Cannons. The two cannons were guided by the latest of anti-personnel targeting technology, able to keep a mark on targets even if they left the line of sight. With it's tracking features, the targeting system could follow any target behind cover. In addition to that, the guns themselves fired dust enhanced rounds at an unprecedented rate, enough to shred through a reinforced cinderblock wall as if it was made of wet bread. Finally, the red paintjob with the skull white cockpit frame struck fear into any enemy, as if a demon from Hell itself was after them. Truly, the MCP 772 Shiden was a force to be reckoned with.

…Or, it would be, if the Square-Cube Law didn't exist.

The thing was, in the Atlas military's quest to make a mech have enough dakka to give a gun-nut an uncontrollable erection, they kind of forgot about weight. While the Shiden could move, it didn't move very fast at all. And, even when it did manage to plod along the ground, the sheer weight of the cannons and their ammo systems made the rest of the internal framing weaker and weaker, until malfunctions and rotor jams became completely unavoidable. Because of that, several repairs had to be made after almost every time it was used. The problem with that was that Roman had ordered the mechs turned on every other day, to make sure they still worked. As a result, the Shiden had to be repaired every week, even if it only walked around the industrial complex. And that wasn't exactly conducive to anyone's finances whatsoever.

"Care to explain why we have to spend lien on this every week, Roman?" Cinder calmly asked, pointing at the Shiden.

Roman rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find a good way to talk about the issue. _"Wish we had a Xabungle instead…_" he bitterly thought. Then, clasping his hands together, he began to try and talk his way out of paying for the repairs. He needed to put on his charm, alright. The looks he was getting from the others said that he was close to footing the bills for everything around here, not just the mechs.

"Look," Roman began, "I don't think I ned to tell you that this is a high-performance machine, right?" He gestured to the Shiden. "Like, just think of it like a dog. You gotta walk it once in a while, okay?"

"Not if that walk costs several thousand lien, moron!" Emerald chastised.

Roman raised his hands in a disarming gesture. "Hey, if you wanna, be the ones to drive it, the door's over there,". He pointed past the group towards the large loading-bay door. "I'm not stopping you."

"We're not against you having the mech piloted, Roman," Cinder explained. "But, we can't just keep on wasting money and resources on that thing."

"Hey, if you wanna use it for… whatever you're using it for, then the repairs are kinda necessary," Roman shrugged.

Mercury chimed in with an idea. "Can we just use the guns? Those are probably better than the mech."

Roman clicked his tongue at Mercury. "Yeah. Well, if you want to spend more money to get 'em off in one piece. But, yeah, that's a no can do, kid."

Mercury frowned and crossed his arms. "So what, we're just supposed to bend over and take it?" he scowled.

"Yeah," Roman quickly replied. "I bet you're used to that already."

Mercury rolled his eyes at Roman at least three times in a row. "Comin' from the gay guy," he retorted.

Just as Roman was about to reply with something snippy, Cinder raised her hand up. "Enough, you two. I think the both of you've made your opinion clear. How about you, Emerald?"

Emerald briefly sputtered as Cinder turned her attention towards her. She actually wanted her opinion? It was like a dream come true! Anything for Cinder! "I-I, uh, think we should just keep it. But, not use it. Like keep it in storage," she replied, hoping that she answered good for Cinder.

Cinder cupped her chin as she considered Emerald's opinion. "I see your point… It would be a waste to just get rid of it. After all, every part still works…. Alright, Emerald, we'll just store it."

Emerald had to keep her squeeing internal. Cinder more or less agreed with her idea! It was all she could ever ask for! Mercury and Roman, on the other hand, simply shrugged. "Sure, whatever," the red-haired thief replied.

"Good. And Roman," Cinder said, getting uncomfortably close to Roman's face, "don't do anything… less than wise with it, okay?"

"Sure thing, boss," Roman dryly replied.

"Good, good," Cinder purred, turning on her heel and strutting away. It was as if she had nothing more to say. It took a minute for Mercury and Emerald to realize that they were done here. With an awkward gait, the criminal pair followed after their leader.

Roman couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the two shit-kids follow after Cinder. It was like watching two little ducklings follow after their mama. Heck, if he wasn't busy raking in lien, then he could make a nature documentary about these three. It would be called, "_Unhealthy Dependence in Dickhead Children_".

Once his chuckle died down, Roman began to walk back towards his office. Well, that was a waste of time for him. They easily could've sent him a text or email about this. Oh well, at least it affected him very little. All he needed to do was one simple change, after all. Well, he'd had enough time in this room for today.

Roman had time to waste and lien to spend!

**xxx**

**Man, a lot of obscure references were thrown around this chapter! I tell you, I feel that people are starting to get less and less the references I make. Still, that won't stop me. It only encourages me. After all, I like to think my readers are smart and can point them out. So, be sure to tell me the ones you found in the reviews section!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm out of here on a blue gale!**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: We're Getting Our Shit Back Together

**Hey, it's Three Dog! AWWWOOOOOOOO!**

**Just kidding, it's just me, The Draigg. But, as a loyal reader pointed out, my author's notes reminded him of Three Dog. And I completely see what he's saying, and agree with that. So, kudos to that guy! But, in all honesty, if I was my Fallout 3 character, I wouldn't be writing fanfic. I'd be out there in power armor, wielding a electric-powered sword, trying to save the Earth. Yet again, then you guys wouldn't have this story in your life, so I guess that wouldn't be the best of things. Anyway, enough about my Fallout 3 character. Besides, I'm more of a New Vegas type of dude. Go Rangers! With that pointless stuff being said, now let's get to the story!**

**xxx**

Tuesday rolled in almost uneventfully. Well, the key word was "almost". It would be a completely dull day if the hunter pair didn't have to stop by to get all their cop stuff back. But, the accidental fire sort of postponed that until the next day.

This time around, Sun and Neptune showed up to the VCPD in their regular clothes. This was supposed to be a quick thing, and they weren't really expecting to do anything important today. So, no retro cop fashions, no dressing like a washed-up cop on the edge. Just some monkey Faunus guy who refused to button up his shirt, and some failed ladies-man who dressed like the member of a B-listed boy band.

They breezed past the front desk, flashing their badges to the attending secretary on the way in. Inside the office area, it was the usual bustle that Sun and Neptune had encountered before. Just a bunch of detectives and uniformed cops filing reports, doing paperwork, delivering coffee, so on and so forth. Nothing all that new.

"So… think they figured it out?" Sun whispered to Neptune.

"No," Neptune hissed. "And I hope they _don't_." After all, how can someone feel self-important after accidentally lighting another trash can on fire in a public building a second time?

Sun gave a small chuckle and shrug. To him, a small fire was just water off of the duck's back. Or, monkey, in this case. "Whatever, bro," he chortled.

Neptune picked up his pace as he walked out of the main office area and into the back hallways. Sun could only guess that the whole fire business was putting him way on edge. Pretty much anyone would if they had to back to the scene of a crime they committed the day after it was done.

In fact, as the pair walked further down the hallway, Neptune winced as he passed the charred wall and remains of the trashcan. The area was taped off with caution tape, and by the looks of it, the flooring got burned up rather nicely as well. Great. That's just what he needed to see today.

Neptune could feel himself begin to sweat as he walked past the scene of his crime. Well, there went his deodorant. Inwardly, he tried to kick some sense into himself. "_C'mon, get a grip, Neptune. You have to get your shit together. Just because you lit a fire in a police station, where there are plenty of people around to arrest you and try you for arson and send you to jail… Oh, stop thinking that way! You're not going to jail! …You wouldn't even survive! You don't even have soap on a rope for that! You'll be the prison's meat condom if you get arrested! Stop thinking that way, damn it! Calm! Stay calm!_"

Sun's Faunus enhanced senses picked up on a peculiar stench. "Dude, you fuckin' smell," he bluntly said to Neptune.

"Maybe I should take a shower once we get back to Beacon," Neptune stalled. He was only lying to himself. He knew that his deodorant vaporized the instant he walked past all those scorch marks. Still, he had to keep his composure, damn it! He couldn't stress out about this too much!

Trying best to slow down his heart rate, Neptune kept on walking down the hallway with Sun. Soon up ahead was a familiar sign. The armory was the one stop shop for everything they needed. Of the cop-related nature, naturally. Nobody ever heard of an armory selling groceries. Well, in the Kingdom of Vale, anyway.

Walking into the armory, Sun and Neptune saw the regular guy behind the desk, Officer Morales. From the looks of it, he was disassembling one of the standard service revolvers to clean.

"Yo! Morales! How's my man doin'!" Sun loudly greeted as he sauntered into the room.

"Oh, you're back?" Morales asked, looking briefly up from his work.

"Yeah! And Neptune's with me!" continued Sun, gesturing to his partner. Officer Morales flicked his gaze over at Neptune. In return, Neptune gave a small wave back at him.

"Anyway, what do ya want?" Morales flatly asked.

Sun leaned against the distribution counter. "Well, ya know, the normal cop stuff. Guns, ammo, car keys. That type of stuff." After a brief moment of silence, he added, "Can we get a good car this time? Like, for real?"

Officer Morales gave Sun a rather flat and bored look. "You'll get the car that you're assigned to."

"Yeah, but I feel like, ya know, I fit in more with like a fuckin' pussy wagon or some muscle car and… okay, you're just walkin' away now…" Sun trailed off as Officer Morales got out of his chair and walked towards the back of his work area.

"Any patrol car will do!" Neptune called after Morales. He wasn't exactly looking forward to being stuck in another lame car. He had a reputation as a cool looking dude to uphold. Of course, he didn't get a reply from Officer Morales. Heck, he was so far back there, he couldn't even see him. All the hunter duo could do was hope that by some chance that they would get a good car this time around.

Drumming his fingers against the counter, Neptune couldn't help but have his thoughts drift to the d20 in his pocket. For some reason, he couldn't help but notice that he was really having issues with it recently. Maybe the Random Number God had just decided out of the blue to fuck with him on a personal level. Well, that would actually make sense, as it was the embodiment of chance, luck, and chaos.

"_I should really get into tarot cards instead. At least those won't mess with me_," Neptune lamented to himself. Yet again, he heard that those cards could cause even more trouble with their use. He might be whisked off to some other parallel world, or be confronted by someone with supernatural powers, for all he knew. On second thought, he decided that the d20 was the best bet to stick with.

Just as the thoughts about tarot cards drifted away from Neptune, Officer Morales walked back up to the waiting hunters. Silently, he slid two service revolvers under the grate covering, along with a few quick-reload cylinders and a set of car keys.

The first thing Sun did was inspect the keys. And he didn't like what he saw. These keys were too familiar for his own good. "Dude, I said I wanted a GOOD car! Not the fuckin' Gabby!" he complained.

Officer Morales gave a nonplused shrug. "Hey, it's what I got. If ya want to file a complaint, go to the chief."

Sun and Neptune balked at that suggestion. At this point, the chief would probably throw a massive fit if they came in with a complaint. From their meetings with him, it was rather clear that he thought that they were working under him, rather than alongside him. To be fair, that thought wasn't exactly inaccurate. But, for the sake of rocking the boat, Sun and Neptune independently decided that demanding a different car from Chief Irons was pretty much a suicide mission.

"…Is it repaired already?" Sun asked, disappointed with getting the Gabby once again.

"Sure is," Officer Morales replied. "Installed a new front bumper, too. Ya know, the cattle catcher type? Anyways, the Gabby's out in the garage when ya need it."

"Thanks…" Neptune muttered. Sun sure as hell wasn't going to say it, so he naturally had to step in. It was only polite.

Sun heaved a groan as he picked up a service revolver to inspect it. Well, at least Morales did a good job of cleaning the thing. As far as Sun could tell, the chamber revolved like a dream. Well oiled, too. There was only the faintest of clicks as the cylinder spun under Sun's hand. Officer Morales sure did know a thing or two about proper gun care. He could give him that much.

Turning to Neptune, Sun said, "Grab your stuff. We'll just put it in the locker and get outta here, okay?" Then, something clicked in Sun's mind. Turning back to the counter, he asked, "'Ey, Morales? Ya got the locker key, or what?"

"It's on the car keys," Officer Morales disinterestedly replied. Then, now that his task was done, he sat back down to work on cleaning the stripped service revolver.

"Huh. Thanks," grunted Sun. He swiped the reload cylinders off of the counter and shoved them into his jean shorts pockets. "C'mon, Neps."

At that, Neptune took the revolver left on the counter and put it in his jacket pocket. Now that he got what he needed, he and Sun left the room. Next stop: the locker room. It wasn't like that they needed to take the guns back with them to Beacon. They already carried more than enough firepower on their person on a daily basis. So, with that in mind, the pair walked across the hallway, into the locker room to store their police issued hardware.

As soon as they had walked into the locker room, Sun immediately began to wonder out loud. "Dude, d'ya think they added anything better to the van? I mean, they said they gotta new front bumper… hell, maybe we did them a favor by crashing that thing…"

"I doubt it. On both points," Neptune dryly said. Yeah, because crashing a car was always a positive thing. Just like how Neptune held the secret key to the Kingdom of Neptuneland, where the women were nubile, the air was clean, and cupcake-flavored orgasms grew on trees. Oh, and where crashing a police van was ALWAYS considered a good thing. Right. That too. He couldn't POSSIBLY forget that point.

"I mean, maybe it got a new paintjob?" Sun continued, not listening to Neptune at all. "Like, it would need one after that crash, right? A coat of paint can go a lonnnggggg way, brah."

"Sure, whatever," Neptune mumbled, his interest in Sun's rambling rapidly slipping away. At this point, he just wanted to put all of his cop stuff in his locker and leave. Today was supposed to be an off day for him. But that fire had taken away one of the days where he didn't need to be a cop. So, it was a little understandable that Neptune was a little bitter over this whole situation currently.

The pair approached the locker towards the back of the room, just like the other times they had been here. By now, it could be easily called routine. Walk in, unlock lock, grab guns, close lock, walk out. Simple. It was kindergarten level easy. And, just like those other times, the locker key still worked, and the locker still opened. Just like always. There were no delusions at all about this being an almost uneventful day.

Sun pulled the locker key off of the key ring, and tossed the van keys inside the locker. Then, with a smooth motion, he fished his revolver and reload cylinders out of his pockets. Into the locker they went. Soon enough, it was Neptune's turn to contribute to the locker. It was almost as if the locker was some ancient monster, and Sun and Neptune's police gear was the virgin sacrifice being sent to appease the waiting elder creature. But, that's a gross dramatization of those events.

To put it simply, they put their shit in the locker and secured the lock.

Once again, it can't be over-stated how mundane and dull this day was.

Once everything was in its proper place, Sun and Neptune made a beeline for the closest exit. As they walked towards down the hallway, Neptune couldn't help but shudder a little again as he passed the burned trashcan area. The sooner he got out of here, the better.

"So…" Sun began, trying to make conversation, "What'cha want for dinner? I'm in the mood for some fuckin' ribs."

"Steakhouse?" Neptune suggested. After all, they were in Vale City. They could stand to go a little out of their way to eat out. It would be certainly better than having a meal from the cafeteria. Out in the city, their chances of getting food poisoning were definitely slimmer.

"Sounds good to me," Sun agreed.

And so, once they were out of the police station entirely, the police duo of Sun and Neptune set off in search of a decent steak joint.

Wow, what a boring fucking day indeed.

Oh well. At least it was better than having a constant risk to their lives.

**xxx**

**Well… sorry about the chapter, guys. Even I can't deny how fucking dull it all is. But, consider this a set up episode. I just needed to get the necessary stuff out of the way. But hey! Now that we're done with that, we can focus on the action again! And I can definitely promise you that some will happen! So please, be excited! I haven't stopped giving you the stuff you all love!**

**This has been The Draigg, and I'm outta here for now!**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The Secret To Hitting On Women Perfectly

**Hey, readers! Now, I figure this would be a good time to answer a question that I've been asked a few times before: what are my writing inspirations? Well… to put the answer as simple as possible, there are too many to count! I mean, you know I like to put all sorts of anime and video game references in here, but those are more like cameo type things. If I had to say I was inspired by something directly, then I'd say my drama sections are mostly inspired by Neon Genesis Evangelion. But, I bet you figured that out already. I mean, I have a weird calling to dark stuff, not just Eva. Berserk, Drifting Classroom, Perfect Blue, you know, stuff in that category. Well, I hoped that answered that question! Now let's get to the story!**

**xxx**

Wednesday, as compared to the previous day, was way, WAY more exciting.

That was the day Sun and Neptune were to going to try and find a lead on Roman Torchwick and the White Fang's hideout.

Of course, their only initial lead was located in a rather specific night club in Vale City. After all, Junior's club was not only the place to buy black market weapons and hardware, but also the place where all sorts of criminal scum liked to hang around. It was just that type of place.

So, it really did stand to sense that Sun and Neptune had to go there to learn a little more about the people they were chasing.

It was around the time when the sun was setting when the hunter duo arrived via taxi. Well, they couldn't just arrive smack in the middle of the day, like last time. It was called a night club for a specific reason, after all.

Walking up to the club entrance, Neptune and Sun were embroiled in one of their usual off-topic conversations.

"Dude, just sayin', you're not gonna get any numbers in there," Sun chided.

Neptune pressed his lips together. "Hey, I got the charm, man. I got the threads, I got the lien, I got all I need!" he replied.

"They're all buncha fuckin' crackheads in there! If you're gonna get any tail, it's gonna be some from junkie!" pointed out Sun.

"Don't go insulting those ladies!" Neptune protested back.

Sun looked completely bewildered. "Fuckin' what?! What ladies? We aren't even inside the fuckin' club yet!"

"It's for future reference!" Neptune heatedly advised.

Rubbing his forehead with his fingers, Sun groaned, "Look, can we just get inside without any of this bullshit? We gotta mission, man."

Huffing, Neptune shot a grimace at Sun. "Fine."

Now that the two had stopped their bickering, they made their way inside the club with little resistance. It wasn't like the bouncer at the door bothered to card them. In fact, if Sun and Neptune had to guess, the club probably got a lot of its "legal" money from underage customers. Now, they could bust the club for that, but that was too small of an issue to deal with right now. Sun and Neptune had much bigger fish to fry.

Walking into the main area of the club, Sun and Neptune scanned around the dance floor. Since the night was still young, the crowd was a little smaller than what they expected. But, that didn't mean there wasn't a sizable crowd to begin with. There was the right amount of people needed to start a writhing mass of bodies in front of the DJ station.

"What now?!" Neptune yelled over the loud music and noise.

"We find a White Fang dude!" Sun shouted back.

Neptune looked around the club and scratched his head. "How do we do that?!"

"Look for a suspicious guy! Like, wearing White Fang stuff! They LOVE to show off!" advised Sun, who was also looking around.

Looking over the dance floor didn't net them any results. Instead, Sun motioned for Neptune to follow him. They were going deeper in there.

Sun and Neptune barely managed to squeeze through the mob crowding the dance floor. Normally, it would be uncomfortable to be tightly squeezed against people, with all sorts of body parts rubbing and grinding against you. Well, Neptune wasn't a person who let something like that annoy him. Instead, he drunk it up for all it was worth. To him, having a bunch of woman brush up against him while they were dancing was all part of the club experience. And really, why should he hate it? This was the closest thing he'd gotten to real action in… well, ever. Hands didn't count towards that stuff.

Neptune suddenly bumped into a still Sun. He'd stopped moving in the middle of the dance floor, and was looking at something off to the corner of the club. "Hey, over there! He's wearin' a uniform!" Sun pointed out.

"Hey, we're not done looking in here!" Neptune yelled. "I mean, we should talk to these people!"

Sun immediately didn't buy Neptune's excuse to be around hot women. It didn't really help that while he was coming up with bullshit, he briefly paused to gawk at a rather curvy woman's ass. "We're not here to get fuckin' numbers!" Sun shouted. "Now, c'mon!"

Neptune groaned as he hesitated. All of these asses and tits were just a delight to the senses! But, unfortunately for him (and fortunate for the case), Sun grabbed him firmly by the arm and began to drag him out of the dance floor crowd. Well, shit. So much for enjoying all the T&amp;A.

Sun dragged the reluctant Neptune over to a secluded booth in the corner of the club. It had some privacy walls, so it muffled the sounds and music of the club slightly. Well, enough to talk normally and not shout like a madman at someone else. It was certainly convenient, that was for sure.

When the pair stopped, Neptune finally got a good look at what guy Sun was looking at earlier. The dude was a god damn buff meat castle. He had no sleeves, so Neptune guessed that they just exploded once he slightly flexed his arms with them on. He also had closely cropped black hair, styled in a buzz cut. Oh, and the most important thing of all, he was wearing a full-faced mask. Just the type a White Fang member would wear. From the looks of it, the guys sitting around him were also White Fang members, as they were also Faunus people. That, and the fact that their small masks were also poking out of their pockets was a dead giveaway.

"Hey, you guys!" Sun announced with a wide grin.

The large man turned his attention towards Sun. "What do you want?" he asked in a deep, dismissive voice.

"Is it fine if me 'n my buddy here hang out with you guys? Drink, gamble, do that shit?" Sun pushed.

The large man only gave the two of them the briefest of glances. "Piss off," he replied.

"C'mon, ya sure you don't wanna bet a little?" Sun pushed ever further.

"What point of 'piss off' did you not get?" the large man growled.

Neptune looked around frantically. This was a good lead, maybe the only one they would get here. He needed to say something quick to hold their interest. Then, suddenly, he noticed one of the Faunus people was wearing a holster. He had a revolver on him.

"Vacuo roulette!" Neptune suddenly blurted out.

"Huh?" went Sun.

"What?" grunted the large man.

"I'm asking if you want to play some Vacuo roulette. I bet you like that type of stuff," Neptune said with a cocky grin.

"You wanna play me?" the large, masked man asked.

"…Yeah," Neptune replied before gulping. He had no idea where he was going with this, but it seemed to be working. He was locked in now.

Then, all of the sudden, the table erupted into laughter, including the large man. Sun and Neptune stood around awkwardly, waiting for an actual reply to that challenge. "Haha… Okay, human. Deal. I'm gonna enjoy seeing your brains on the table," the large man sadistically chuckled.

Neptune nervously gulped again. But, at least his gambit had worked. One of the Faunus people scooted over, to allow Neptune to have a seat at the table. Anxiously, he sat at the table and waited for the revolver to come out.

Once the Faunus henchman unloaded his ammo from the revolver, he set it on the table. Setting it in between them, the large White Fang member asked, "You wanna bet anything before you die?"

Replying with a shaky grin, Neptune said, "If you win, I'll tell you how to hit on women with one-hundred percent success."

"And if you win?" the large man asked. His tone indicated that he clearly didn't expect Neptune to win at all, and that he was just toying with him.

"You tell me where your buddies hang out. I might want to join in," Neptune replied.

Even though nobody could see it, the large man had a wicked grin on his face as he said, "Deal." He wasn't expecting this yuppie to win at all. After all, he had the odds in his favor. It was all but guaranteed that he would win.

Taking the initiative, the large masked man took the revolver and spun the barrel. Without any hesitation, he pointed the revolver's barrel at his temple and pulled the trigger. Only a click rang out, not the sound of a gunshot.

"Your turn," the large man said, sliding the revolver towards Neptune.

Taking the revolver in his hand, Neptune carefully weighed it. Wait, something was off about this gun! It weighed different… different than the six-gun he got from the police station. The distribution of mass was more off than a six-shooter. Wait! This revolver held seven bullets! This White Fang guy was trying to bluff him!

Now that he knew his odds, Neptune felt a little better. He could afford to act a little more confident. But, it was in his interest to act nervous. So, he hesitated a little when he put the barrel of the gun up to his head and pulled the trigger. Nothing came out, fortunately.

"Your turn," Neptune said nervously, sliding the revolver over to the large man.

The large man decided to spice things up a little with his turn. This time, he put the gun under his chin and pulled the trigger. Once again, nothing came out. Lucky him. "Next," he graveled out.

Taking the revolver, Neptune tried to determine where the bullet currently was in the cylinder. Ah, from the weight of it, there were two more turns after this one. Then, the person on that last cylinder would get rather deep new piercing. This time, Neptune put the barrel in his ear as he pulled the trigger. Nope. No bullet this time.

Sun and Neptune could feel an aura of menace radiate from the masked man as he picked up the gun. This time, he put the end of it directly against his mask, on his forehead. With no hesitation on his part, he pulled the trigger. Then, slowly, he calmly placed the revolver on the table.

"Looks like you lose, boy," the masked man sneered. At that, the other White Fang members began to laugh cruelly at Neptune's perceived fate. Raising his hand, the large man got his cronies to stop chuckling. "Now, that secret, before you die with it."

Instead of a response, Neptune quickly grabbed the gun and placed it against his temple. Trying to be as stone faced as he could, he pulled the trigger. Click. Nothing. Now that made the others fall completely silent.

"This holds seven bullets. Your turn," Neptune stated, sliding the gun back over to the large man.

The White Fang members looked at the large man in shock. "What're ya gonna do, lieutenant?" one asked.

"…You know your stuff," the lieutenant flatly complimented. Then, with lightning reflexes, he grabbed the revolver and pointed it at Neptune. "But you're not as good as you think."

Then, all of the sudden, Sun whipped his own service revolver out of his waistband and pointed it at the large man, apparently a White Fang lieutenant. It was a real standoff now.

"I think we want your part of the bet now," Sun said through gritted teeth. That was all Neptune needed to hear in order to pull out his gun out of his jacket. Now, this standoff got much more lopsided.

"Go on. Tell us. Either way, you're gonna die here," Neptune said, trying to sound badass. It kind of didn't, but in the tenseness of the situation, nobody noticed or cared.

Seeing that he didn't have the ammo to deal with two gun wielding people, the White Fang lieutenant slowly put the revolver up to his forehead. "Go fuck yourselves!" he spat, before pulling the trigger.

With a loud crack, the bullet ripped through the White Fang lieutenant's mask and into his skull. All of what he was and ever would be splattered against the back wall. As the grey brain matter, skull fragments, and blood slid down the wall, the bullet embedded itself among the organic remains.

While everyone at the table froze in shock, multiple people in the club heard the gunshot and began to scream in panic. A large commotion broke out, as not only people tried to escape the club, but as Junior's men pulled out their own weapons and pointed them in the direction of the noise.

Out of the blue, one of the White Fang members slugged Neptune in the face and knocked him to the ground. As he began to struggle with Neptune for his gun, Sun shot at the White Fang members who got up to attack him.

On the ground, Neptune was losing this battle of strength. The White Fang member had nearly gotten the revolver out of his hands. In desperation, Neptune bit on the man's hand as hard as he could. While the White Fang member yelped in pain, Neptune took this opportunity to shove the man off of him. Scrambling up to his feet, Neptune shot the man in the gut while he was still on the floor. Once down a few more to go.

At the same time, Sun managed to duck out of the way of one man's punch. Then, grabbing the man's fist, Sun shot the White Fang member twice in the stomach and once in the head. A classic bullet drill technique. Dumping his attacker to the floor, Sun prepared to face down the other two White Fang men coming towards him. However, through sheer luck, one suddenly cried out in pain and fell face first onto the ground. In his dying throes, Sun noticed that he had been shot in the back. Then, looking in the direction of the shot, he saw a black-suited gangster pointing a handgun in his direction. Then, another bullet ripped through the air and nailed the other White Fang terrorist in the shoulder.

Crying in pain, the man began to retreat towards the club's exit. Thinking quickly, Sun knew he had to catch up to this man. He could tell them where the White Fang hideout was!

"Nep!" Sun yelled, ducking to avoid gunfire. "Follow that guy!"

"Got it!" Neptune said. He tried to follow after the man, but shots from the gangster began to fire in front of his path. Almost on reflex, Neptune grabbed one of the nearby booth tables and held it up to his side, as a shield. Noticing this, Sun got behind the impromptu cover.

The pair barreled their way through the crowd, following after the fleeing suspect. The table did its job well, as Neptune could feel the shock of a bunch of bullets fired into the table top.

"Drop it!" Sun cried as they reached the exit doors. Complying, Neptune dropped their cover and dashed outside.

Sun and Neptune quickly looked around, trying to find the fleeing man in the crowd. Suddenly, Sun pointed out to Neptune the man. He was holding his arm, and climbing into a nearby car.

"He's gettin' away!" cried Sun as he and Neptune ran towards the car. Unfortunately, by the time he reached the sedan, it started up and screeched out of the parking lot.

"Fuck!" Sun swore as the car skidded onto the main street.

Neptune was already trying to think of a solution to this issue. Then, seeing another car starting up, he grabbed Sun by the arm and dragged him towards it.

Yanking open the car door, Neptune pulled out his badge and flashed it to the terrified club patron. "VCPD! I'm commandeering this car!" He didn't wait for a reply as he dragged the man out of the car and climbed into the driver's seat. Sun, seeing this all happen, quickly lid across the hood and got into the passenger seat.

Now that they had wheels, they could chase after the White Fang member. He was their best bet to find out where the bombs were! They needed to catch up to him!

Now the chase was really on.

**xxx**

**Man, a lot happened this chapter, didn't it! Well, don't worry, the action isn't over! This is only the beginning! Get ready for some more next time, coming up! Now the heat's really starting to rise in this story! And don't' forget to tell me what you think of this scene in the review section!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm really feeling the heat now!**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Redline Chase

**Okay! Man, a lot happened last chapter! Let's recap here: Sun and Neptune went to Junior's club, where Neptune got into a game of Russian Roulette with the White Fang lieutenant for information. However, the lieutenant chose to kill himself before telling them where his hideout was. So, in the ensuing fight between Sun and Neptune, Junior's gangsters, and the White Fang members, one of the men sitting with the White Fang lieutenant escaped the club via car. Now, let's join our heroes in their commandeered car, already on the chase!**

**xxx**

Neptune tried his best to control the sedan he was driving. However, that wasn't all that easy for a few reasons. First of all, the White Fang car that he was chasing kept on drifting across lanes accidentally, probably due to the fact that the driver was shot in the arm. On the second point, it was because Neptune had to swerve out of the way of other cars. At least it was a bit easy with the sedan he acquired. This thing handled better than a van in every way possible.

The White Fang car ran through a red light, forcing other cars in the intersection to swerve out of the way. "Shit!" Neptune cursed as he avoided crashing into one of the stopped cars. Unfortunately, he couldn't dodge the car completely, and the passenger side mirror was completely sheared off the door. Well, at least the department would pay for the damages.

Sun growled as he saw the White Fang car take a sharp left onto the Vale City freeway. "Fuck! He's got cover now!"

Gritting his teeth, Neptune took the turn also, and chased the offending car onto the on ramp. "We need to force him off here!" he said to himself.

Weaving past a bunch of cars, Neptune floored the sedan's gas pedal. The needle on the RPM meter was dancing across the redline indicator. Not that anybody noticed. They needed that speed in order to make up for lost distance.

Soon enough, Sun and Neptune were right on the tail of the car they were chasing. Close enough, in fact, that they began to ram the back bumper of the White Fang car. Neptune kept on trying to force the car into a more favorable chase, but he just couldn't accomplish that from his current position.

Pushing on the brakes, Neptune yelled at Sun, "I'm gonna try something!"

Allowing the car to get ahead of him, Neptune allowed himself to lag slightly behind. That gave him more breathing room to move around in. With that, he swerved to the left and increased his speed once again. Now that he wasn't ramming the bumper, the front of Neptune's car was now parallel to the White Fang car's rear wheels.

Swerving his steering wheel to the right, Neptune nudged the front of his car against the side of the other car. This forced the car to pull to the right, in order to avoid crashing due to a PIT maneuver.

With this strategy, Neptune was able to lead on the car he was chasing. Which was fortunate, considering that he needed to take this chase off the freeway ASAP. There was no way he was going to be a part of endangering civilians while chasing a suspect a second time.

Nudging the offending car again, Neptune forced the suspect onto a nearby off-ramp. Judging by the lack of people on the off-ramp, Neptune could only guess that the freeway chase had taken them all the way to the outskirts of Vale City. Well, at least there would be less people around here to risk getting hurt. After all, only a few more miles, and they would be exiting the city limits and heading towards the country roads. So, if anything, this was a blessing.

The two cars skidded off of the freeway and back onto the street. By now, the White Fang car was having a hard time losing the lead that Neptune had gained on it. The cars were being pushed to their limits, and now that the road was mostly clear, it was proven that Sun and Neptune's car had the advantage.

Unfortunately, because of how fast the cars were going, they were heading towards the city limits at an unprecedented rate. Once they entered the countryside, not only would they have to drive uncontrollably and unsafely around winding mountain roads, but the creatures of Grimm would become a factor, too. Neptune and Sun weren't interested in having to hold off a pack of Beowolves while trying to arrest the perp. So, they needed to end this chase in the city limits, in the here and now.

"We need to stop him!" Neptune exclaimed.

"No shit!" Sun exclaimed. Then, he checked the ammo left in his revolver. Good, he still had a few more shots. Perfect. Now, he had a plan in mind. "I got an idea!"

"What?" Neptune asked, still focused on the chase.

"Pull off a little! I'm gonna blow the tires!" Sun exclaimed, rolling down his window. However, just as he was about to lean out to take aim, Neptune stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"No, damn it!" Neptune exclaimed. "We can't have him too hurt! You remember the last time?!"

Sun couldn't argue with that logic. After all, the first chase they got into involved the perp getting such serious injuries that he'd been confined to the hospital for a while in intensive care. They couldn't afford to have this guy get into a serious crash. Only some force could be used here. So, shooting out the tires at this speed simply wasn't a good option. They needed to interrogate this guy, not kill him.

"Fuck!" Sun swore, sitting back into his chair. "What the fuck now then?!"

"We ram 'em some more!" Neptune roared, before trying to do exactly that. Since the front of his car was still parallel to the back tires, that was the prime idea to enact. If he managed to get the car into a PIT maneuver, then there was less of a risk of having the White Fang car crash spectacularly. But, they needed to pull this off right.

Neptune rammed his car into the rear of the other car. At this speed and position, it was clear that Neptune had the advantage here. Surely enough, the White Fang car was perpendicular to their car, still traveling at a fast speed. All the driver of the offending car could do was try and break as his vehicle uncontrollably rammed through a nearby chain link fence and into an empty lot. Even though the car's speed had slowed down, it wasn't enough to stop it from skidding out on the mud of the field.

The White Fang car jostled to a stop in the muddy lot. Although the White Fang driver tried to get out of the lot, the slickness of the mud prevented him from getting any traction on his tires whatsoever. All that accomplished was spraying mud everywhere and the car spinning in donuts in the same spot.

"There!" Neptune cried as he slammed on the brakes. The sedan skidded to a halt a few meters past the broken fence and the field. After all, momentum was a cruel, but unavoidable mistress.

Sun didn't wait for the car to come to a complete stop to hop out. With a running start, Sun cocked his service revolver as he ran towards the stuck White Fang car. As he approached it, the door on the stopped car opened, and the suspect ungracefully tumbled out. Just as Sun was about to reach the perp, the man stumbled to his feet and raised his good arm up, ready to attack. It looked like he wasn't planning on going down without a fight.

Skidding to a stop, Sun aimed his revolver at the man. "Freeze, fucker! VCPD! You're under arrest!" he announced.

"Fuck you!" the man cried, before trying to tackle Sun.

However, the man's balance was off, not only due to the dead weight of his injured arm, but his dazed state from the crash as well. So, all Sun had to do was step swiftly out of the way to send the suspect stumbling face first into the muddy ground.

Planting a firm foot on the man's back, Sun barked, "Put your arms out where I can see 'em!" He leveled his service revolver at the man for good measure.

Although he tried to struggle, the White Fang man simply couldn't get up. The case and his gunshot wound had taken too much of a toll on him. There was simply no other better choice left but to give up. Unless he was in the mood for bleeding out from the gunshot wound, of course. But, the man's survival instincts overrode that decision almost instantly.

Neptune had just jogged up as the man decided to surrender. "I got 'em Nep! Fuckin' got 'em!" Sun said, a half-elated, half-smug grin drawn across his face. This was it! They had gotten their man!

"Hand me the cuffs. I'll book him," Neptune said, holding out his hand. Complying, Sun used his free hand to dig around in his pockets, until he fished out a pair of handcuffs he'd brought along. At least he could finally use a pair of them. He tossed the cuffs to Neptune, who caught them with one hand.

Kneeling down besides the man, Neptune placed the perp's arms behind his back and locked them into the cuffs. All the while, Neptune recited the man's rights. If he didn't, then this can could stand to walk free. That wasn't acceptable at all.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and if you can't afford an attorney, one will be provided for you by the court. Do you understand?" Neptune said from memory. It was surprisingly easy to remember. After all, that's how cop reality shows usually ended. He practically knew the rights before he even became a junior detective.

"Fuck you, asshole!" the man spat at Neptune.

"I'll take that as a yes," Neptune snarked as he yanked on the man's handcuffs. Understanding what Neptune intended to do, Sun took his foot off of the man's lower back.

As Neptune began to haul the man to his feet, the suspect roared in pain. Pulling him up by his arms couldn't have been good for his bullet wound. But, regardless, Neptune got the man standing.

Sun kept his gun trained on the man, not trusting him enough to not try something stupid. As he and Neptune walked over the car, the suspect began to spout out a bunch of empty phrases and sentences.

"You're a buncha murderers, you know that?" the man bitterly spat.

"Sure, buddy," Sun replied, not letting the words get to him.

"Just working for a corrupt system… Who're you to decide what's right and what's wrong, huh?!" rambled the suspect.

"I'm not the one who's part of the White Fang," Neptune calm said in place of Sun.

"Of course you wouldn't be! You're not one of us! But at least you're not a fucking race traitor!" the suspect continued to rant, towards Sun in particular.

"Right, right. You can tell me ALL about your fuckin' weird cult bullshit at the station," Sun dully said.

Now they were close to the commandeered sedan, Neptune opened the back door up. Without the slightest hesitation, Sun grabbed the man by the head and shoved him into the back seat. Once he was in, Sun slammed the door shut.

Turing to Neptune, Sun offered his fist up for a bro bump. "We fuckin' did it!" he grinned.

Neptune tapped Sun's fist with his own. "Damn straight," he smoothly replied, also smiling.

They had finally done it. They had finally caught a White Fang member without somehow fucking up! All they needed to do now was take the perp back to the station, and call in the cops to take away the crashed car as evidence. But, Neptune was already planning to do that on the way back. Because currently, he was more in the mood to let Sun drive him back to the VCPD headquarters. That chase had taken its toll on his still young heart.

So, Sun climbed into the driver's seat, and Neptune pulled out his scroll as he waked over towards the passenger seat. Once he was in, Sun started up the car and began to drive back to the freeway, all the way back downtown.

What a night that was indeed.

**xxx**

**Man, what a chase! But hey, at least Sun and Neptune got their man! All it cost was witnessing a man blow his brains out and cause a little bit of property damage. Now, I can safely say that this is where the real story begins. Ignore the other times that I may or may not have implied that. And, probably forget about this instance, too. The story is only going to get realer from here. So, go ahead and leave me a review! I'd like to hear your opinions on this action piece!**

**This has been The Draigg, and I felt the heat, man!**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: A Friendly Chat With Da Chief

**Get ready for another one of The Draigg's signature InfoFacts(Trademarked)! Get ready for this one: the letter G is the most badass letter of the alphabet. Think about it. We got stuff like Getter Robo, Gurren Lagann, G Gundam, Gundam in general, GaoGaiGar, and Giant Robo. Plus, the letter G is also part of the word "green", which has been already been proven to be the most hardcore, OG, and badass color in the spectrum. So, I hope you liked that pointless fact! Now, let's get back to the story!**

**xxx**

It was a nice, evenly temperature Friday evening.

Normally, people looked forwards to Fridays for recreational or relaxing reasons. It was a day reserved for movie dates, card games, or dinner with friends. But, this Friday was special to Sun and Neptune for an entirely different reason.

The suspect that they had arrested was finally cleared for interrogation.

After all, it wasn't like the police department could just question a man who not only had a gaping bullet wound in his arm, but severe whiplash from the car chase then ensued. The man needed medical attention. It was the reasonable and moral thing to do. The Vale City Police Department wasn't made up of a pack of savages, after all.

So, Sun and Neptune were given the previous Thursday off, in order to properly book the White Fang member and treat him for his injuries. However, that small break was all the hunter duo needed.

After that whole chase, the pair, Neptune especially, needed a break after the events of Wednesday evening. There was no rational way to describe what occurred that night. How else could anyone put together the fact that a deadly game of Vacuo Roulette led to large fight in a nightclub, which then led to a car chase all the way across Vale City to the city outskirts, which then finally ended with them arresting a suspect in a city-threatening bomb plot? It simple boggled the mind. So, it made complete sense that Neptune and Sun needed some time to wrap their minds around all that shit.

But now that their minds finally had a day-long break, Sun and Neptune were more than ready to get back onto the case. In fact, to say they were pumped was an understatement. To fit that metaphor, they were as pumped as a parade balloon filled to burst with helium. Or, for the dirtier version, as pumped as a past-his-prime porn star who needed an extra boost for his little friend on a last-minute shoot.

Sun and Neptune had shown up at VCPD headquarters in their staged cop getup. Sun flexed his back, satisfied with the creaking of his leather chest holster and straps. Meanwhile, Neptune flicked his aviator shades off of his face and tucked them into his white jacket's front pocket. Slicking back his blue(?) hair, Neptune turned to his partner. "Ready for this?" he asked Sun.

"Yep," Sun growled. That out of character sounding reply made Neptune give pause.

"Dude, what's with the voice?" Neptune questioned.

Sun looked at Neptune awkwardly. After a long beat, he muttered, "…Just tryin' to sound cool…"

"Sounds like you tried to swallow some steel wool," Neptune sighed. Of course Sun would try to sound like the character archetype he was dressed as. In everyone's mind the guy dressed as a loose-cannon, world weary detective would have a gravelly voice.

"Yeah, but it kinda fit, didn't it?" Sun rhetorically asked as the pair climbed the steps towards the station's front doors.

"Not really. I think you'd need to drink more…" Neptune mused. But then, realizing what he said he quickly added, "But don't do that!"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya," Sun waved off. "…Party pooper," he added under his breath.

At that, there was nothing more really said as the pair weaved through the police station. They had a job to do, and this really wasn't the time to debate about how to properly pull off a convincing worn-off cop character type.

**xxx**

A few minutes later, Sun and Neptune had made their way past all the offices and holding areas, and towards the interrogation room. More specifically, the one farthest from the holding cells. It was more out of the suspect's safety than any convenience. If there was anything that united violent humans together, it was a terrorist Faunus to beat up on. That's why the perp had had to be kept in a relatively isolated holding cell as well.

"You're late," Chief Irons grunted as Neptune and Sun walked into the observation room.

"Blame traffic," Sun waved away as he stepped up to the observation window. "Yep, that's our guy," he noted out loud.

"What tipped you off? The fact that it's the same guy ya brought in?" sneered Chief Irons.

Ignoring the sarcasm, Neptune asked the chief, "Did we miss anything?"

"Not yet," Chief Irons replied, crossing his arms. "We're gettin' his file in right now. Looks like your friend 'ere has a little history with us."

"What're we lookin' at? Extortion? Rape? Murder?" Sun questioned, turning to the chief.

"Why're ya asking me? Does it look like I have the file in my hands?" sneered Chief Irons.

Sun rolled his eyes in frustration as he turned his attention back to the observation window. Just looking at the guy sitting in the interrogation room, Sun could tell that he wasn't going to break easily. It was the look in his eyes. Sun could see it in his smile—no, scowl. Yeah, scowl. No, he totally didn't have that song stuck in his head for the entire day. And he really didn't appreciate the dulcet, smooth tones of the artist's singing. He was hardcore. Not like _bad_ hardcore, like the White Fang member. But like the good kind of hardcore, like a badass cop. Then, getting the feeling that he was somehow getting off track, Sun turned to Neptune.

"Think we should interrogate 'em ourselves?" he asked out of the blue.

Before Neptune could even get in a word, he was interrupted by a (typically) irate Chief Irons. "We didn't ask you two! You're not even trained for this type o' thing!" he protested, trying to knock the idea out of Sun's head.

"I'm sure we can drag SOMETHIN' out of 'em!" Sun shot back.

"No, you won't!" Chief Irons argued back. "We already have a way to get 'em to crack! Now, just stay here, and don't interfere!"

Neptune decided that this would be a good point for him to step in between the two arguing hotheads. If he didn't then the argument would probably get them taken off of this case again. And there was no way Neptune was going to allow that to happen.

"Look, look," the blue(?) haired hunter bargained, "Chief, can we at least make a suggestion?"

Chief Irons narrowed his eyes. "What'dya have in mind?" he drawled.

"Uhhh…" Neptune groaned, having no idea what he could suggest.

Catching onto the opportunity Neptune was giving him, Sun chimed in. "If he doesn't break, we can tell ya what to do in there," he said with a grin.

Chief Irons could see Sun's game. But, he had enough confidence in his officers that he wouldn't really need to have those two clowns with badges dictate shit to him. Plus, he already told his interrogator what to use against this perp. So, if anything, he didn't have much to lose by agreeing. "Deal," he finally grunted.

Sun and Neptune shared a small fist bump. At least they got a victory over this guy. It was a rare thing indeed. After all, he was only begrudgingly allowing them to tag along with the rest of the department. So, anything positive Sun and Neptune could get over the chief was worth its weight in gold.

Suddenly, everyone's attention was drawn to the observation window. A detective with a pair of aviator shades, dark beard, and matching combed hair walked in, carrying a manila folder. Tossing the folder onto the table separating him and the criminal, the detective sat down and began to speak.

"Nahw, what do whe gaht heah?" the detective said in an odd, thick accent.

Sun and Neptune looked at each other. This man's inner-city accent was way thicker than they expected. How could this guy get through the day with an accent like that? What would happen if he burned his tongue on something hot? Was it already burned? That's kind of what it sounded like.

"I ain't got anything," the White Fang member defiantly stated.

"Whell, if YA don't, this foldah prob'ly does," the detective said, opening the manila dossier. He began to read the information on the files inside. "Rick Chai, pantha' Faunus, got fah lahceny, rahbary, 'ssault with a deadly weapon. Nah ya a White Fang?"

Although the others didn't see it, Chief Irons slightly facepalmed. Maybe he should've gotten someone else to do the interrogation. At this rate, Irons wasn't all that convinced that this Rick guy understood half of what he was saying.

"Oh, big man," Rick sneered, "That folder's REALLLL scary."

Snapping the folder shut, the interrogating officer decided to get a little rougher with the criminal. "Stahp playin' games! Nah I KNOW ya a path of da White Fang! If ya don't wanna be a dick wharmha, then tell me where ya hideout is!"

"Did you have a stroke?" Rick said, blowing off the officer's threats. "What's with the accent?"

Chief Irons couldn't take any more of this. The detective's accent was just getting in the way. They couldn't give this terrorist a thread to hang on. They needed to go in for the kill as soon as possible. Tapping on the glass, Chief Irons gave the signal for the detective to leave the room.

Abruptly, the interrogator stood up from the table and picked up his file. Pointing at Rick, he threatened, "Dahn't THINK we're dahn 'ere."

Chief Irons walked out of the observation room and shut the door. Neptune and Sun could only vaguely hear him talk to the interrogating detective. Although Sun walked over to the door and put his ear against it, he still couldn't make things out all that clearly. But, after a minute or so, he could hear the thick accented detective stop talking, followed by the sound of someone walking away. Sun felt incredibly confused by all this. Were they planning to reschedule the interrogation?

"What the hell…?" Sun heard Neptune mutter.

His confusion rising, Sun walked over next to Neptune and looked out the observation window. To his surprise, Chief Irons himself was now sitting at the interrogation table, and going over Rick Chai's files. He went over their heads! The crafty son of a bitch!

"He's fuckin' muscling us out!" Sun growled. Out of pure angry reflex, he began to walk towards the door. However, he was stopped by Neptune grabbing his arm.

"Don't go in there! You'll mess it up!" Neptune hissed. Sure, Neptune wasn't all that either that the chief went back on their deal, but he at least knew that he had to deal with it now. Having an irate Sun burst into the interrogation room would only make things worse.

Sun yanked his arm away and glared at Neptune. Judging from the look on his partner's face, Neptune wasn't fucking around when he said that. With a dejected huff, Sun crossed his arms and looked back through the observation window. In his commotion, he missed out on the first few bits of what Chief Irons was saying.

"—Have the ability to save yourself here, Rick. Just tell me where the White Fang're hiding," Chief Irons said calmly.

"Yeah, how about no?" dismissed Rick.

"Ya know, for this… list of crimes, I stand to send ya to some shithole, ya know?" Chief Irons threatened.

"You're just like that other guy. Weak threats," Rick said, leaning back into his chair.

"Fine, fine, I guess if _you_ said it, its okay. But, just so ya know, Schwartzveil has gotta LOT of free slots now," Chief Irons coolly replied, before standing up to leave.

That sent a visible shiver of fear down Rick's spine. "Hey hey hey! Let's not do that, 'kay? Ya better not send me to that hellhole!"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll make a buncha new friends at the penal colony. Ya know, join a gang, all the labor, tons of fun stuff," Chief Irons continued.

"Hey, the Grimm Wilds ain't no place for a prison. It's fucking insane!" Rick protested.

"And you're gonna go there," Chief Irons said. But then, sitting back down, he added, "Unless… there's something you wanna tell me."

Rick stared silently at the desk for a few minutes. To the looks of Neptune and Sun, it looked like he was trying to make a really hard decision. But, after that extended beat, Rick said, "…If I tell you, can I get a lesser sentence?"

"I'll see what I can do," Chief Irons replied.

Rick sighed. "We're… on the docks. The waterfront, I mean. The warehouse on Ray and Agi… It's surrounded by a metal fence. Ya can't miss it."

"Anything else? Ya know, so I can vouch for the jury," pushed Chief Irons.

"I just guard the entrance… I do know they got some crazy shit in there. Mechs, all sorts of dust, like crates of them, and guns. It's a lot," Rick admitted.

"Great, Rick. That's all I need for now," Chief Irons said, abruptly getting up from his chair and towards the door.

"Wait!" Rick called out after him. "Am I safe or what?"

"It ain't up to me. All I can do is put in a good word," was Chief Iron's reply, before leaving the interrogation room.

Sun and Neptune turned to face the observation room door as they heard it open. Chief Irons only poked in his head, as if he was intent on going somewhere else. "Ya got what ya needed. I want ya to check out the joint tomorrow," he briefly ordered, before withdrawing his head and leaving.

The hunter pair turned to each other and blinked. Man, that all turned out fast. That Irons sure was a good interrogator. It had only been what, a few minutes flat? If only they didn't miss his opening lines. They must have been something pretty good. Oh well, that was only an assumption. They would never really know for sure.

But, what Sun and Neptune DID know for sure was that now not only did they have the location of the White Fang hideout in the city, but also a pretty good idea of what firepower the group was packing. Well, if they could verify those claims, anyway. But, that's why they were going to scout out the place tomorrow.

At this rate, the case was going to be closed soon. After that… heck, maybe they'd get some medals!

Now it was really only a matter of time!

**xxx**

**We're heading towards the climax soon, folks! Now, I bet I know what you're thinking: Sun and Neptune were going to do a good cop/bad cop routine. But, that's what you EXPECTED. I'm not all that big of a fan of expectations. In the words of Hayao Miyazaki, in order to win over an audience, you need to subvert their expectations. I think I did that well enough. Plus, the main characters can't do EVERYTHING. The world just doesn't revolve around them. Oh, and I hope you like the little cameo from Burnie's cop character. I haven't made a Rooster Teeth reference in a while, so it only felt right to put here! So, with that being all said, leave me a comment of how pumped you are for the beginning of the climax! It's coming up, I swear!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm only beginning to peak!**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Finally Had Enough Of This Shit

**Hey! Friends! We're almost to the climax! Exciting, right? Well, I'd hope that it is, otherwise then there wouldn't be much of a point to reading this story, right? Wait, wait, don't leave! It's close to the big finish! Trust me, it's worth it. But, before we get to our big finale, we should check in with our favorite criminal duo one more time. How about it? Well, you have no choice in the matter. So, let's get to the story, shall we?**

**xxx**

"God DAMN IT!" Roman swore as he slammed his fist on his desk.

How DARE someone outbid him on that scarf? It was genuine, one-hundred percent silk! Now it was going to some damn plebian, who would rub his greasy mits all over it! He wouldn't know how to pull it off like only Roman could!

Sighing, Roman clicked out of the internet browser tab. So much for his online shopping venture. Adjusting his hat, he decided that he could stand to go for a walk. A man like him needed to keep in shape, after all. He didn't want to outgrow his finely tailored suits, after all. Plus, he should probably go looking for Neo. If she was gone for an extended amount of time, then that would only mean something bad or very messy happened. And, then he would have to pay for a cleaner, and that wasn't fun. Those bastards usually weren't available on Saturdays, anyway.

So far, this Saturday wasn't looking all that great.

Walking out of his office, Roman strolled calmly towards the main storage area. If Neo was going to be anywhere, she'd probably be near where people normally gathered. Wait. Faunus weren't people. Scratch that, where life forms normally gathered. After all, those White Fang mutts could stand to be good target practice for Neo.

However, as he walked into the main storage room, Roman was a little surprised that Neo wasn't in there. Instead, the only signs of life was a group of White Fang members, just sitting around a table and drinking. And not working. That was the part that annoyed Roman. What was he not paying them for? If they didn't have any terrorist stuff to do, then they could at least keep an eye on Neo. And killing she may or may not have done while she wasn't being watched was their fault now.

"Hey! Mutts!" Roman announced at the group. Only a few people looked up at Roman, only to go back to drinking straight form their bottles.

"Ya see my girl around here?" Roman continued. "Pink and brown hair? Yay high? Sadist?"

"Nooooo… We haven't…" one man, staring at the table groaned.

"Useless," Roman muttered under his breath. Then, raising his voice, he asked, "And what the hell are you doing? Get busy!"

"Our friends are gone…" another White Fang member miserably moaned.

"What?" Roman asked, confused.

"The lieutenant and Rick… Gone," the White Fang member clarified.

Roman adjusted his hat as he thought. Well, considering how shitty it normally was to be a member of the White Fang, it really wasn't a shock to him that some animals would either die or just run away.

"Meh," was all Roman had to say. He couldn't care less. What was more important now was finding Neo before she made a rather expensive mess.

Sighing in annoyance, Roman spun on his heel and walked back towards the office. He'd just text Neo on her scroll. And, if she didn't reply, Roman would just get Perry on the search for her. He was the only remotely competent animal here.

Speaking of Perry, Roman saw that he was waiting in front of the door. And, judging by the way he was picking at his cuticles and just generally fidgeting, he probably had some unpleasant news to bring him.

As soon as Roman walked up to the office door, Perry snapped to attention and said, "Sir!"

"What, Perry?" Roman dully asked.

"I, um, got some mews for you," reported Perry.

"Anything good?" Roman pressed.

Perry nervously licked his lips. "…No?"

Roman couldn't resist the sigh welling out of his throat. He had a feeling that he would be doing a lot of sighing today. "Come in," Roman offered as he walked into his office.

Perry followed in, just as he was told, and sat in a chair in the corner. Likewise, Roman wasted no time slumping back into his desk chair. With a sweeping, sarcastic hand gesture, Roman sneered "Proceed."

"Well… uh… Cinder's coming back later. I think she wants a progress report on those bombs. H-have we even built those yet, by the way?" explained Perry.

"Nope, YOU haven't. Seriously, do I have to give your little friends a treat to work, or what?" Roman suddenly fumed. "We just have a PILE of bomb parts over there, and they haven't even been touched since we got the damn stuff!"

"I, erm, can't assemble bombs, sir. I don't have the know-how," Perry sheepishly admitted.

Roman massaged his furrowed brow. "Look, when's she coming by?"

"Tomorrow evening. The normal time," Perry said.

Leaning forward onto his desk, Roman nodded at what Perry had said. Then, out of the blue, he asked, "Perry, do you like working here?"

"Huh?" Perry confusedly grunted.

"Do you like working for the White Fang?" Roman clarified.

"Well, yeah, sure. I mean, it isn't exactly all what I heard it was when I signed up, but I guess I can't argue with it," admitted Perry, picking at his cuticles again.

"How much do you get paid?" Roman asked further.

"I don't," Perry replied, sounding a little disappointed with that thought. "I have to take up a buncha part-time jobs to pay rent…"

"How sad," noted Roman. "Say, how'd you like to work for me?"

"…Aren't I doing that now?" Perry asked.

Roman waved his hand to dispel that confusing statement. "No, no, you're not getting it. Leave the White Fang, and be under my payroll. Trust me, boy, I pay handsomely." He finished statement with a small smirk.

"Wouldn't I just be leaving behind all my comrades?" questioned Perry.

"Are those even your friends out there? Because they usually treat you like shit," Roman (quite rightly) pointed out.

Perry had to admit that Roman did have a point. There wasn't anyone person that he could call a friend here. They treated him like some lackey, used up all his cash to buy stuff, and he was sure that some of his fellow White Fang members had blatantly stolen from his possessions before. Plus, they kept on calling him a race traitor. Just because he was getting along with Roman fairly well didn't mean that he turned his back on Faunus kind.

Then, an ironic thought hit Perry: despite joining up to stick it to humans, a human was the only person to treat him relatively fairly ever since he started operating for the White Fang. The truth of it all stung to him. He just couldn't deny it any longer. Sure, Roman treated him as an assistant, but at least he wasn't outright bullied by him. And now, he was offering to pay him out of his own pocket? It was too good of an offer to resist.

"No… They're not my friends," Perry decided.

"Then why should you work for them? Look, all I'm saying, is that you'd be better off running with me. So, wanna take me up on this?" Roman finally offered.

By now, Perry was internally fuming over his revelation. If anything, his Faunus comrades had treated him worse than any human. At least humans didn't bully him and use him extensively. He guessed that some weren't all that bad. Roman wasn't all that bad. So, his response didn't take all that much thought. "Deal."

Standing up from his chair, Roman offered out his hand for a shake. "Glad to have you on board, Perry," he smirked. Perry reached out and took Roman's hand, giving it a firm shake. Now it was official. Perry worked for Roman now.

Sitting back down, Roman picked up his scroll from the desk. "Now, we need to let Neo know that you joined up," he said mostly to himself.

But, as he was going to open up the texting app, Roman heard his ringtone go off on his scroll. _"You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life/See that girl, watch that scene, digging the Dancing Queen"_

The pupils in Roman's eyes narrowed as he recognized the number. Shit, she was calling NOW?!

Answering the call, Roman began with the charming introduction of, "What the hell do you want you bitch?!" Perry could only look on in confusion at Roman's sudden outburst.

Perry could hear the leather of Roman's glove squeak as he clenched and unclenched his free hand. Then, Roman shouted into his scroll again. "No, he isn't FUCKING mine! You're just gaming the system! Now STOP! STOP TAKING MY SHIT!"

Before Perry could quietly ask what was going on, he was stopped by more of Roman's angry ranting. "NO, FUCK YOU! I GOT THE FUCKING PAPERWORK! YOU DON'T HAVE A DAMN THING ON ME!"

Roman angrily slammed his fist on his desk. "FINE! YOU'RE DONE, YOU HEAR ME?! DONE!" Hanging up on the call, roman angrily shoved his scroll into his pocket and got up from his desk.

Perry confusedly watched Roman walk out of the office, only to walk back in a minute later holding a can of gasoline. "Okay, first assignment, Perry," Roman said through gritted teeth.

"…What was all that about?" Perry quietly asked.

"Not important, just listen," Roman continued. "I'm going to text you an address, okay? I want you to burn down that place. Simple as that."

"Huh?" went Perry.

"Look, no questions. You'll get paid, don't worry. Just do this, and we'll be golden." At that, Roman tossed that can of gas into Perry's arms and began to push him out the door.

"Wait!" Perry cried. "What should I do after that?'

"Lay low for a day and get back to me! Okaygreatjobtigernowgetouttherethanksbye," Roman muttered as he finally shoved Perry out the door and shut it behind him.

Roman groaned. Of course his ex would call for more support payments. Of course this Saturday wasn't going to be good. At least he got someone to "take car" of this little situation. Hopefully, he'd show that bitch by burning down her house. Now she'd get a taste of how it felt when someone took away her shit.

Walking back over to his desk, Roman opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. He didn't even bother to get out a glass as he just chugged the fire water straight from the container. Sighing, he sat back in his desk chair and pulled out his scroll. He needed to text Neo. They were going to take a small vacation tomorrow. And possibly for a week, if the whole fire thing somehow got traced back to them. It was best to lay low, just to be safe. Besides, they had the opportunity to avoid Captain McFirebitch and her young shit-wards. That was more than enough of a reason for Roman.

Fortunately for him, Roman didn't need to send out a text. Out of nowhere, Neo just opened the office door and calmly sauntered into the room. Well, as calmly as someone playfully twirling a viscera-covered parasol while covered in blood could. So, by Neo standards, it was more like that her legs were shaking from the sheer pleasure of her implied sadism.

Roman just decided to skip over what she was out doing, and to the question of how bad the damage was. "Animal, or person?" he sighed.

Neo breezily raised one finger, indicating that she'd killed an animal. Roman breathed a sigh of relief. People were such a pain to clean up after. At least with animals, he could just toss on the freeway and make it look like it got killed by being run over.

"Okay…" Roman breathed. Across from him, Neo happily slid into the chair in front of his desk. "We've got news."

"…?" Neo hummed.

"We're taking the day off tomorrow… and probably the day after that. Sound good?" explained Roman.

Without questioning why, Neo nodded her head in agreement. That sounded fine to her. But, she couldn't help but ask something that was on her mind earlier today. "…?"

"Right now? Well, I guess we have the time," Roman replied. Seriously, it wouldn't be a day with Neo of she didn't ask for a trip to get some ice cream. But, the girl was worth it. She was easily the most reliable partner Roman had worked with in a while.

Neo let out a merry squee as she tried to climb out of her chair. Alas, he legs were still a little weak. Her hobby sure had taken her energy from her, all right. There were a few interesting stains on her clothes that could attest to that. And no, not just the blood stains.

Roman went to Neo's side and helped her out of her chair. But, he kept in mind to keep her slightly away from his chest. He didn't want to get blood all over his jacket. White, dry-cleaned suit jackets and blood never mixed well.

Now that the height-challenged sadist was on her feet, she and Roman walked out of the office, and outside the warehouse. The both of them were at least feeling good next to each other. That's what partners were for, right?

In fact, they were so happy, that neither Roman nor Neo noticed the police van parked slightly down the street from the warehouse's gate. If they could hear the inhabitants of that van, they would have heard that their target was confirmed, and that this was definitely thee White Fang Hideout. They would have also heard that the presence of Roman alone was more than enough proof. But, because they didn't have such excellent hearing, none of that information was picked up.

Instead, Roman and Neo climbed into Roman's town car parked across the street, and drove down the street, in search of an ice cream joint.

Lucky them. Through sheer coincidence, they had somehow avoided the incoming shitstorm to follow.

But hey, luck works for all peoples, right?

**xxx**

**And thus our favorite villains exit, stage left! To be honest, I couldn't bring myself to have Roman, Neo, and Perry arrested or killed in the climax. And, it's not just because I like the characters. I also have plans for them in the future. So, don't worry about that! Other people's asses will be kicked in their stead! Plus, much like the running theme of this story, luck can just randomly happen. So please, don't shit on me for this. Just enjoy it! Lie back, and think of fan fiction! That's the spirit!**

**This is The Draigg, and I… have to clean up all the viscera Neo left behind…**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: The Designated Day

**Here we are folks! The beginning of the climax! All the stuff you had to put up with during the story is about to pay off! Now, we'll finally see how all the work and dedication Sun and Neptune put into their detective case will finally play out! Oh, and don't forget to look out for how chance and luck will play a part in this climax! So, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!**

**xxx**

Sunday was the day. Evening was the time.

It was the day that those sons of bitches at the White Fang hideout would finally be taken down.

But first things first, Sun and Neptune needed to pick up their hunter team escort. After all, since the involved officers were also hunters, it stood to sense that Beacon would send a hunter team to support their own kind.

So, Sun and Neptune took their trusty—no, acceptable van, the Gabby, to the air dock to pick up their back up. They would know it was the right people when they would knock on the side of the door and say the correct passphrase. It was what Ozpin said would happen, anyway. There was no such thing as too little security under his watch.

"Who d'ya think we're gettin'?" Sun asked as he leaned back in the Gabby's driver seat.

"How should I know?" Neptune replied. "It could be some people we've never met before."

"Nah. If I think I know Ozpin, he'll send us people we know," reassured Sun.

"But you don't really know him all that well," Neptune pointed out.

There was an awkward beat as what Neptune said sank in. Both knew that that point was completely true. They had only really interacted with Professor Ozpin on a few occasions, and those were for the hunter assignments they got put on. Never in any other context.

"…Shut the fuck up," Sun mumbled, conceding to Neptune's logic.

The inside of the van grew silent as the hunter duo waited for their escort to show up. So far, they had been waiting at the air dock parking lot for a good twenty minutes. Unfortunately, there wasn't all that much to do. They could only watch the sun transition to dusk for so long before the nice view got boring.

However, there was a sudden knock at the trunk doors. Sun and Neptune whipped their heads around to catch the sound. Okay, someone knocked on their van. But now they needed to get the passcode right.

Sun rolled his eyes as he remembered the passcode. Did some fucking weeaboo come up with this stuff? He couldn't stop a small cringe as he called out to the others outside. "Ugh… Do you remember love?"

From the outside, a familiar voice replied completely unironically, "Will you love me tomorrow?"

"Come in," beckoned Sun. he just couldn't get over how someone up in higher Beacon command had gotten away with using an anime reference as their official passcode. If it was up to hum, Sun would institute a few changes in the academy's system. Passcodes were supposed to be cool and vague, not a reference to some show only nerds would watch. …Not that he watched it. He'd just seen a few clips of the show on DustTube. That's all. Really.

Sun smirked to himself as his sentiment was proven right. He knew Ozpin would send people they knew. Surely enough, Team RWBY climbed into the back of the van and shut the trunk doors behind them.

"Hey guys!" Ruby greeted with a smile.

"Hey Lil' Red! How ya doin'?" Sun replied.

"Pretty good! We're excited to kick some butt! Right guys?" she exclaimed, directing the last part towards her teammates.

"I'm ready to stop the White Fang here, once and for all," Blake immediately replied, steel in her voice.

"I'm as ready as I can be," Weiss replied, crossing her arms.

"Hell, I'm not gonna turn down a fight," smirked Yang.

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Sun cheered.

Turning to Neptune, Ruby then asked, "So, uh… where are we going, exactly? We were just told you to meet here…"

"To Vale City docks. That's where the White Fang and Roman Torchwick are hiding out," explained Neptune.

"Wait… back there again?" asked Blake with a measure of disbelief. Was it really that the White Fang was located not far from that one major dust heist a few months ago? She was there! If only she knew, she could have stopped the White Fang right then and there! If only…

"Yep. It makes sense," Neptune mused. "I mean, it has big enough warehouses to hide all the dust and weapons they have."

"So… Any plans for attack?" Yang asked.

"…Well… Uh…" went Neptune. Honestly, he hadn't put all that much thought into it. In hindsight, he really should have. Noticing that everyone was waiting for a response, he eventually said, "Okay, tell you what. Yang, Blake? You'll got towards the cargo bay. You can't miss it, it has a big door. Sun and I'll go up front. And uh… Weiss and Ruby? You'll be our clincher. You'll go in through the side. If we go in at three points, then those bastards won't be able to fight us with any coordination."

It took everyone a minute to absorb the (kind of) strategy that Neptune came up with. A few minutes later, Weiss chimed in with, "Well, that's what I was going to suggest." The looks she got from the others, including Ruby, showed that they didn't believe her in the slightest.

"…Anyway," Sun said, "Let's go. Be sure to stay on those benches, alright? There's no seatbelts."

Nodding, the members of Team RWBY held onto the metal benches lining the walls of the van. They would have given anything to sit in actual seats. These things were pretty damn uncomfortable. But, they figured that criminals as heinous as the White Fang deserved no better.

So, on that note, the Gabby pulled out of the air dock parking lot. In it, it carried the best hope for stopping the White Fang and their bomb plot.

**xxx**

Twenty minutes later…

"—I swear, who built this van? Cavemen?" Weiss complained, shifting awkwardly on the top of the bench. "Seriously, if you'd just gotten me through to your chief, we'd be in a nice, Schnee Dust Company provided car. No this… this… rolling scrap heap!"

In response to Weiss' nagging, Sun turned on the stereo and put it onto the most public station imaginable: Public Domain Music 90.64. Nothing but the royalty-free music that the particularly bland crowd loved.

Once again, these were the best hopes to stop the White Fang's plot.

"Don't you drown me out, you hooligan!" Weiss protested. But, unfortunate for her, her complaints were drowned out by the metaphorical oatmeal of the music world.

This continued for at least another good ten minutes. It was by then that everyone was getting tired of the completely lifeless music, even Sun. Fortunately, they were finally coming up in the street that the warehouse was on. Turning off the radio, Sun and Neptune, plus Team RWBY cruised down the street silently.

Sun scanned the street for the spot they parked at yesterday. It was a nice spot: far enough not to be blatantly seen, but close enough to keep a good eye on what was occurring at the White Fang hideout.

Ah! There it was! Sun spun the steering wheel to park on the side of the curb. Putting the Gabby in park, everyone else saw through the front window where they were. For Blake, there was no mistaking it: they were half a block away from her first battle against the White Fang as a huntress. Of all the places… There was no doubt that this was the oddest chance Blake had encountered in a while.

While Sun parked the car, Neptune pulled his d20 out of his pocket and played with it a little. There was no way he was going to roll it now. The Random Number God could take away any luck he may have if he made it concrete with a die roll. And right now, he needed all the luck he could get for the upcoming raid.

"Well, we're here," Sun flatly announced. At that, he turned off the Gabby and stashed the keys in the sun blocker. After that, he then unbuckled himself from his seat and slipped out of the van.

Following Sun's example, Team RWBY and Neptune did the same. However, when Team RWBY stepped out of the trunk, they saw Sun waiting for them to get out. "Excuse me," he apologized to Weiss and Blake as he shoved past them.

As Neptune walked to the back of the van, he saw Sun begin to root through the back storage area. "What're you looking for?" he couldn't help but ask.

Sun brushed off his question as he continued to dig through the Gabby. Then, he suddenly declared, "Ah! There it is!" Then, whirling to face Neptune, Sun tossed his partner his lightning-caster rifle. It was his personal hunter weapon.

"Wha? You brought this?" questioned Neptune.

"You bet. I figure us two would need some fuckin' firepower, man," Sun replied, dead serious.

"What about your stuff? The… gunchucks? Whatever they're called," asked Neptune.

"I wouldn't be able to swing 'em all that well in tight places. Especially as a staff. So, it's the pea shooter for me," Sun explained, holding up his service revolver.

"Ah. I get it," accepted Neptune. With a nod of thanks, he slung his rifle across his back. At least this felt a little familiar. Way better than using his service revolver. With his lightning rifle/trident, he felt a little more confident in being able to take down any White Fang member who'd try and kill him.

Turning to Team RWBY, Sun asked, "You guys ready?"

Team RWBY activated all of their weapons at once. Weiss spun the barrel of Myrtenaster, Blake cocked back the pistol form of Gambol Shroud, Yang pumped her fists and cocked Ember Celica, and Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose in its scythe form and planted it against the ground. "I think we're all ready," Ruby confidently replied.

Sun and Neptune smiled. "Now that's what I wanna hear," Sun smirked. He decided then to check his service revolver one last time. Yep, fully loaded. And he had a few reload cylinders in his pockets, so he was good. Then, he was suddenly hit with one regret. He and Neptune forgot to wear their cool cop costumes! Man, what a fucking bummer! Now they wouldn't look as cool when they brought the bad guys to justice! Oh well… Maybe the next time around. Sun made a mental note to hang out his and Neptune's cop clothes the next time they worked with anything involving the Vale City Police Department. Damn it, though…

Neptune, on the other hand, pulled out his trusty good luck charm, the green d20, and slipped it into his jacket pocket. He somehow felt better now that it was in his jacket instead of his pants pocket. It was like that the closer it was to his heart, the more Neptune felt that the Random Number God was on his side. And, in one last check, he also felt a round for his spare ammo reloads for his service revolver. Yep, he had a fair amount. Plus, now that he had his rifle, he figured that he wouldn't use his revolver all that much, anyway. How fortunate. Neptune thanked the Random Number God for that stroke of good luck.

Out of nowhere, Sun pumped his fist out for a bump and cried, "I'm so FUCKING ready for this!"

"Yeah!" Yang immediately replied, returning Sun's fist bump. Soon enough, Ruby and Neptune did the same. Not Weiss and Blake, though. They were too focused on the task at hand to indulge in such trivialities.

Once his fist was bumped by his friends, Sun then turned to face the warehouse/hideout. "We're comin' for ya, White Fang," he said, a smug, cocky grin plastered across his face.

Sun and Neptune began to walk towards the main gate. Seeing this, Team RWBy followed, their weapons at the ready. All of them were ready for this. This was the type of thing they trained for. No matter how personal the vendetta was, one thing was certain in all of their minds:

The White Fang would be stopped here and now.

And by THEIR hands.

Now the raid was on.

**xxx**

**Now we're heating up in here! The nonstop, infinite climax has just begun! Get ready for a bunch of crazy badass and awesome shit to sling towards your way! This is going to be so awesome, it'll make my gentleman readers fight fully grown bears with their fists and my lady readers become femme fatales from the sheer awesomeness! Just strap in, and take it all in! Their stand is here, and the time is now!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm boarding the damn hype train!**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Yang And Blake: Mech Fighters

**Hey! Miss me, you guys? Sorry for the delay on this chapter. But, you know, it's hard to keep a story this long on a serialized schedule. I mean, it's really taxing to write a chapter a day for almost thirty days. I really needed a break, and find my motivation to fight again. But, hey, I'm here now! And, if you're reading this chapter in some unspecified period in the future, then you don't need to worry! This apology doesn't apply to you! Anyway, who's ready to see Yang and Blake kick some arse? You are! Let's get to the story!**

**xxx**

Yang and Blake walked up towards the cargo bay.

Neptune was right, it wasn't all that hard to miss. The large garage door was a dead enough of a giveaway. Plus, the large sign labeled "CARGO BAY" hanging right over the door was helpful. It was almost as if the White Fang wanted them to know where their stuff was.

"So… How many dudes we lookin' at?" Yang asked Blake as they walked towards their goal.

"Hmm…" Blake mused. "Well, considering the size of this operation, there can't be more than at least twenty people in this warehouse right now."

"I meant in the cargo bay," clarified Yang.

"I dunno, I'm not in there, am I?" Blake replied, rolling her eyes.

Yang clicked her tongue playfully. "Tsk tsk. Touchy, are we?"

"Look, can we just focus on the mission, please?" Blake groaned. This really wasn't the time to joke around, considering that this was the best chance to stop the White Fang in Vale City right now.

Yang scratched her head awkwardly. She knew when to lay off with her girlfriend. And now was definitely one of those times. "Right, right. Sorry."

By now, Blake and Yang were close to the cargo bay. Now, they had a choice on what to do here. "Should we go through the garage door, or the service door?" Blake pondered out loud.

"I vote garage door. It'll shock the shit out of 'em" Yang said.

"But the smaller door gives us the element of surprise," countered Blake.

"Look, do you want shock and awe, or surprise? Both kind of work the same way," pointed out Yang.

Blake felt her cat ears twitch under her bow as she thought. Sure, Yang could be a hot head who didn't mind getting her hands bloody, but she also did know her stuff about ambushes. After all, that was the type of thinking that made a good huntress. Meh, Blake didn't have much to lose with this choice. It would still end with the White Fang being stopped, after all.

"…Shock and awe," Blake decided, cocking the pistol form of Gambol Shroud.

Yang gave off a slight grin as she activated her Ember Celica gauntlets. "Love ya, sweetie."

"Same here," Blake said with a matching smile. She could trust in her partner. Why not enjoy that trust a little?

Now the two huntresses stood at the ready. The large cargo bay door stood in front of them, waiting to be opened. And, once it was, then their real fight would begin. Not that either of them minded. Yang was feeling as excited as a young puppy to beat up some terrorists, and Blake was almost feeling relieved that she was going to stop those bastard's operations in the city she swore to protect.

Now was the time to act.

**xxx**

Meanwhile inside the cargo bay, Mercury wasn't having a good day. First of all, that asshole Roman Torchwick had apparently decided to bail on them today, when they were supposed to talk about the next part of his job. Now Cinder had to rearrange everything, and that pissed Mercury off to no end. That only meant that he had more work to do, coordinating this and that to finalize their plans for Mountain Glen. And now, these two god damn grease monkeys working on the mechs in storage were complaining to him about the quality of parts they had.

"Sir, if you'd just get the parts we're talking abou—"

Mercury cut off the complaining mechanic with an annoyed rant. "Look, I'm not the one paying for this shit? Does it look like I sign your paychecks? No! So stop complaining, and work with what you have! …And why are you asking me anyway? I'm not a mechanic! That's YOUR job!"

"But sir, the Shiden—" the second mechanic tried to say.

Mercury rolled his eyes before he cut off that mechanic. "I don't even want to hear ANYTHING about that piece of shit. I don't even know why you're even bothering to calibrate that thing! We're probably just going to get rid of it."

The mechanics didn't say anything as Mercury turned his back to them and stared at the open cockpit of the Shiden. Mercury himself was almost baffled as to why they kept this thing around. It's not like it would do them any good for their plans. The regular Paladins could do that job easier. Hell, even a fucking Scopedog would be better.

"Just get this thing out of my sight…" muttered Mercury, turning back to the mechanics.

Before anyone could do anything, the collected group heard the cargo bay door begin to open. All three of them looked at it, confused. They weren't expecting anything to be delivered, nor any other visitors. What the hell was going on?

That unspoken question as answered by two people Mercury had never seen before pointing weapons at them. "Freeze! Vale Huntresses! The jig's up!" the blonde girl yelled at them.

"Get on the ground!" her black haired partner yelled also.

There was a brief beat as the two sides froze in decision. The seconds hung in the air as one side waited on the other to make a move. Mercury started to move backwards, trying to analyze the situation. Instead, he bumped up against the ladder leading into the cockpit of the Shiden. At the same time, one of the mechanics decided to pull a small revolver out of his tool belt and point it at the two huntresses.

It was at that exact moment that shit hit the fan.

**xxx**

For Yang, time ran into a blur of gunfire and adrenaline. She could feel a small caliber bullet whiz past her head, and she could hear Blake fire her Gambol Shroud at the offending White Fang member.

"Get down!" Blake yelled as she pushed Yang behind a crate and dove after her.

Blake fired over cover at the White Fang members. By now, a second one had started firing at them. But, neither Blake nor Yang could tell what was going on with the guy with the weird greaves who was near the mech. Regardless, Yang and Blake needed to take out the immediate targets first.

Getting on her back, Yang let the recoil from her fired Ember Celica propelled her and let her slide across the ground. That took one White Fang member by surprise. That look of surprise was short lived as he got a stomach full of dust enhanced shotgun pellets. The one mechanic slumped over to the floor, holding his stomach in agony.

Taking the opening that Yang's surprise attack offered, Blake vaulted over the crate she was using as cover, while also laying down surpassing fire with Gambol Shroud. Aiming at the second White Fang mechanic, she put two bullets in his knees, and one in his gun hand. He went down without a struggle. Two down, one more to go.

After kicking the guns away from the White Fang member's wounded bodies, Blake and Yang cautiously scanned the room. "Where'd that one bastard go?" Yang asked through her teeth. Neither had noticed that the cockpit to the mech had closed while they were in cover.

Suddenly, to their shock, the mech's operational lights turned on. A mechanical whirring hum filled the area as the lights lit up on the mech's camera systems, and some parts of the cannons mounted on the shoulders. Slowly, the mech rose to a standing positon as Blake and Yang watched on. But, the two cannons suddenly pointing directly at them broke them out of their trance.

Just in the nick of time, Yang and Blake dove towards a metal crate as the dual vector cannons began to fire. They let out a deafening roar as the bullets carved into the ground. Then, to Blake and Yang's horror, the guns began to fire towards their cover. For a mounted gun to adjust it's aim that quickly, it must have had a targeting system. That wasn't good. That meant that it could follow their every movement within a certain radius.

"A fucking mech?!" Yang exclaimed over the sound of gunfire.

"We need to take that thing out! Blake shouted at Yang.

By now, the targeting system had adjusted to where it predicted that Blake and Yang were hiding. They didn't have much time before the bullets would rip through the metal protecting them. It was already beginning to severely dent their cover. They could hear the metal start to give way more and more.

Desperate, Yang began to think. If that thing had a targeting system, then that meant it could only be effective up to a certain range. And, if something came to it from out of that range quickly, then that meant that the targeting system would need to readjust it's parameters to compensate. So, they needed something to hit that mech fast and hard.

"Blake!" Yang shouted. "I have an idea!"

"What?!" Blake shouted back.

"Try to get that mech near the door! I need you to distract it!" Yang explained quickly.

"And you?!" asked Blake.

"I'll be back with something to take that fuck out!" Yang said with a smirk. Yeah, she really did have something good in mind for that metal bastard.

Blake briefly glared as she absorbed Yang's idea. She was to be playing the party of bait. Great. But, before she could even remotely protest to Yang's idea, she heard a bullet whiz above her head. The metal crate was pretty much done for as cover. It wasn't like she had much of a choice now. Yang's suggestion as the only thing she had to act on. Hopefully it was a good plan.

"Fine!" agreed Blake. "Be back quick!"

Yang gave Blake a quick peck on the cheek before turning away from her. "Love ya! And I'll be back soon!" she yelled.

Yang sprinted out of cover. The vector cannons began to follow the huntress' path, spraying bullets in her direction. But then, the targeting computer shifted its parameters to another target: Blake darting from behind the metal crate and behind the abandoned shell of a forklift. That gave Yang the time she needed to get out of the targeting system's range.

Now this fight was in Yang's hands.

**xxx**

Yang made sure to jog as fast as she could back to the Gabby. The van was still untouched, fortunately enough. It was going to serve her needs perfectly. Ripping open the door, Yang looked around the driver's seat for the keys. Opening up the sun blocker, the van's keys flopped onto the seat. Perfect.

Grabbing the keys, Yang then dashed to the front of the car and stopped in front of the van's cow-catcher bumper. She acted just according to her plan. Taking out the ammo belts from her Ember Celica, and two more from her pockets, Yang stuck the dust ammo in the grate in front of the engine. There, that was just what she needed. There was enough fire dust on the front now to make the van's engine explode on impact. It was a pretty good improvised bomb, Yang liked to think.

Wasting no time, Yang didn't bother to buckle her seat belt as she climbed into the driver's seat. She closed the door and put the keys in the ignition. As the engine sputtered, then roared to life, Yang couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Man, Sun's not gonna like this…"

**xxx**

Blake, for the first time in a long while, was getting seriously worried. Every single bit of cover she used, from the forklift, to a large crate of spare parts, and now a discarded leg of a mech, were getting shredded to pieces by those vector cannons. So far, in the past few minutes that the guns had been firing, she hadn't gotten a good opportunity to try and land an accurate shot on that damn mech. If only she could take out a sensor, then maybe she would have more room to move around.

Damn it, what was taking Yang so long? Here Blake was, holding out for her, and now it seemed like her partner was going to take too long with her plan. Blake had already done her part: from where she was hiding, that mech had to walk into the center of the room, in front of the cargo bay door. At least Blake could slightly appreciate that it was a slow mover. That meant whoever was piloting it would probably try to keep it in place as much as possible.

Blake tried to take a peek over the metal leg to check on the mech. But, she didn't see much before the bullets started to trail towards her head. It was a disheartening to think that that metal juggernaut wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

As Blake slipped back fully into cover, she stared straight at the bay door. She furrowed her brows at something that was approaching rapidly. Wait, were those headlights? Wait… Yang's plan was to ram the police van into the mech?!

The eyes in Blake's head nearly bugged out of her skull as the van drove straight into the cargo bay. At the last minute, she saw the driver's door open and Yang bail from the car. Good thing too, because it was about to ram into the mech's legs.

The Shiden didn't have time to react as the vector cannons tried to readjust its parameters towards the van. By the time it had managed to get a lock on the car, the dust shells stuck on the front of the van made contact with its legs. And, as anybody who used dust enough could say, the kinetic force of the impact was more than enough to make the fire dust ammo explode violently.

Blake could feel the intense heat of the explosion that engulfed the mech and van. Heck, she could have sworn that a few of her arm hairs had gotten burned off from the sheer temperature. It was a good thing she was behind cover, otherwise she would have most certainly gotten injured by the flying debris. If only those other White Fang members were so lucky. She was more than certain that they were grievously injured, if not outright killed in the blast. Well, she better check, just to make sure. After all, the point of trying to arrest someone was to keep them alive.

At that thought, Blake stepped out of cover and walked over to the two prone bodies of the White Fang mechanics. One of them was assuredly dead, a large piece of metal jutting out of his head. The other was still breathing. That much was fortunate. The crate he was by must have protected him from the blast slightly.

Wait, Yang!

Blake dashed over to where she saw her partner jump out of the van. Her heart beat faster as she saw something that frightened her. Yang was lying under a sheet of metal. Panicked, Blake got to her knees and yanked the metal off of Yang.

"Yang! Yang! Yang, please! Are you okay?!" Blake cried, worried about her partner.

Fortunately, Yang let out a cough and sat up against Blake. "I got… into a car accident…" she said in a shocked daze.

"Yeah, but y-you're okay now," Blake said, almost choking up. That incident was a little too close for comfort with her.

In the distance, Blake and Yang suddenly heard something move. It sounded like it was coming from the direction of the now-flaming van and mech. Getting some help from Blake, Yang and she walked over to the wreckage to investigate the noise.

To Yang and Blake's surprise, they saw that one grey haired guy flop out of the remains of his mech's cockpit. And, by the looks of it, his jacket was now on fire. The guy let out few yelps of panic as he ripped off his flaming jacket and shirt, leaving him topless. "Fuck… oh fuck…" he panted as he sat on the floor in a daze. He was completely out of the fight now. Anyone who got rammed by a van laced with explosives would be. Hell, he was still lucky to be able to use his limbs, let alone breathe.

Mercury didn't even try anything as Yang and Blake walked up to him. Not that he was in any state to do anything, anyway. But, to be safe, Blake trained Gambol Shroud on his head as the huntress pair made their way towards him. Off in the distance, they could hear fighting going off deeper in the warehouse. Well, it sounded like the others had gotten started too.

But, for the time being, Yang and Blake were content to just take in the two guys who were still left alive in the cargo bay. Kneeling down, Yang restrained a dazed Mercury.

"Got anything to tie him up with?" she asked.

"Uhh…" Blake muttered as she looked around. Ah, there was some rope! Grabbing it, Blake got down next to her partner and tied together Mercury's hands. He wasn't going anywhere now. Cutting off a section of the rope with Gambol Shroud's sheath blade, Blake then made sure to bind the White Fang mechanic that survived. There, now every White Fang person in the room was restrained.

Getting back over to Yang, Blake offered her partner a satisfied look. To her, this was a major internal victory. Now these people would pay for their crimes. And that was more than what Blake could have wanted out of this situation.

"We did our part," Yang simply said with a smirk.

"No kidding," Blake sighed in agreement.

Looking around, Blake realized for the first time that her cat ears were tensed up. Not that she could blame herself for that. A LOT just happened in the span of a few minutes. But, like Yang said, their part in this fight was over. Now it was on their friends to do theirs. But, they had faith. How couldn't they?

After all, they could hear the fight go on from there. And from the sounds of it, it sounded like someone was making headway. Good, good. That's just what hunters were expected to do.

And they were doing it well indeed.

**xxx**

**So… Is that true to form, or what? I mean, I promised hype, and I damn well delivered. Ramming a van into a mobile suit, which then explodes? How isn't that cool? Well, cool, or crazy. Or kind of stupid. Or all of those. But, you can come to that conclusion on your own time. Heck, go ahead and tell me what you think in the reviews section. And, while you do that, I'll go write another chapter!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm outta here! (****_Guitar riff_****)**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The Gravity Of Ruby And Weiss' Situation

**Heyo! Ready for some more action? Why am I asking, I know you are! After all, that's why you keep on coming back, right? Right. Anyway, just out of curiosity, what do you think of this story overall? I mean, it's pretty different from the other stuff I've written. Not completely different, but different enough. Different main protagonists, more violence, that sort of thing. I'd appreciate if you'd give some honest feedback on this. Seriously. Anyway, enough with serious business time! Back to the action, yo!**

**xxx**

Hold on. Let's take a short step back.

Around the same time as Yang and Blake were about to storm the cargo bay and fight the Shiden mech, and when Sun and Neptune were about to breach through the main entrance to arrest whoever they found there, Weiss and Ruby were taking their positions around the side entrance.

To their surprise, the side entrance was completely unguarded. This in particular baffled Weiss. She was under the impression that the terrorists making her family's life a living hell would have SOME shreds of intelligence. But, here they were, and nobody was guarding an entrance to their Vale City hideout. Was the White Fang really this badly run? Were they just dumb? Or was everyone around her suffering from sheer incompetence, and she was the only person to notice? Now that she thought about it, the Schnee Dust Company probably didn't have the smartest people on their board. After all, they were the ones who thought opening a dust based theme park with live and primed dust attractions would be a good idea. Geez, everyone involved were a bunch of morons!

Weiss was snapped out of her thoughts by Ruby tugging at her arm. "Weiss? You alright?" Ruby asked cautiously.

"Y-yeah," Weiss replied. "Just wondering why this entrance is unguarded…"

"Maybe we're lucky!" was Ruby's chipper reply.

"Or maybe there's a trap…" Weiss soberly added.

Ruby pursed her lips together in thought. Weiss certainly did have a point. If playing card games taught her anything, any type of trap (cards) could be activated in enemy territory. And you can't attack the moon in real life to foil the opponent's plans. The moon was already broken, after all. And there was no way Ruby could afford with all her lien to destroy it further.

"…Want to check for any first?" Ruby offered.

Weiss simply shrugged. "I'd prefer it. Yet again, if they are this incompetent, then it would just be a waste of time."

"I'm on it!" Ruby said, activating her semblance. Before Weiss could protest or add in any other suggestions, the cloaked girl vanished in a puff of rose petals. While Weiss was impressed by Ruby's super speed, it still annoyed her that her partner like to jump the gun using it a little too much. She could at least put a little more thought into it.

Huffing in annoyance, Weiss crossed her arms. Now wasn't the time to be treating this like some kind of game. But, as soon as her miffed irritation popped into her mind, it was silenced by the reappearance of Ruby.

"No traps around the door," she reported dutifully.

Weiss unfolded her arms and got Myrtenaster ready. "Then we should be ready," she simply replied.

Nodding, Ruby activated Crescent Rose into its sniper form and pulled back the charging handle. Having a gun to point at someone was certainly going to help in storming a room. The scythe could come in later, if need be.

Ruby and Weiss stalked up to the wall that the side entrance door was on. Pressing their backs against the wall, they were both on either side of the door. The pair didn't break eye contact with each other as they tensed, ready to blow open the door. Ruby held up three fingers, and began to count down on her hand.

Three…

Two…

One…

Breach!

In a flash, Weiss jabbed the point of Myrtenaster into the metal of the door. With a brief pulse of her aura, she activated the dust setting that the multi-action chamber was set on: fire. The door was blown off its hinges as a dust explosion rocked the entrance.

Ruby filed in first, Crescent Rose's barrel pointed at the ready. Weiss dashed in after her, her rapier ready to unleash a barrage of fire dust.

"Everyone stop! Huntresses!" Ruby yelled in a high pitch. Weiss subconsciously raised an eyebrow at that. How could anyone take that threat seriously when she sounded so squeaky and adorable?

Ruby lowered Crescent Rose as she looked around the room. It was completely empty. Not a single White Fang member in sight.

Scratching her head as she looked around, Ruby muttered, "Uhh, kinda thought there'd be more people here…"

Weiss gritted her teeth at Ruby's statement. "This isn't the time to be wondering about this!" she hissed.

A tense beat filled the air as Weiss and Ruby stood in the room, expecting something to happen. Suddenly, they heard an approaching noise. Wait… It was footsteps! People were coming towards them!

Not that that fact should have surprised neither Ruby nor Weiss. Blowing a metal door off its hinges wasn't really an activity one could call quiet. And neither was yelling for people to freeze, and then having a brief chat with your partner. If anything, it was shameful that it took this long for people to take notice and respond to the loud racket.

Just as Team White Rose readied their weapons once more, the door was kicked open by a surprisingly small foot. In came a darker-skinned girl with green hair, followed by a squad of people dressed in full White Fang uniforms. Immediately, the White Fang members pointed their rifles at Ruby and Weiss, and the green haired girl did the same.

"Who the hell are you?!" the green haired girl demanded to know.

Ruby blinked, and then put on her game face. "We're huntresses! Put down your guns, now!"

The barked order hung in the air as Weiss and Ruby stood off with the White Fang squad. Nobody was willing to be the first to pull the trigger. Both groups stood there, obsessed with their opponent's next move, and also worried about what might come to pass.

Finally, the green haired girl's eye briefly twitched. Ruby saw this as the moment of her enemy's weakness. Squeezing the trigger of Crescent Rose, she fired the first shot at the White Fang.

The room exploded into gunfire as both sides began to fire wildly, bullets and dust flying haphazardly into the air. Ruby and Weiss could feel the bullets of the White Fang's rifles whiz past their bodies. Fortunately, they were terrible shots. Unfortunately, the emerald haired girl was a much better shot, and nearly managed to shoot Ruby straight in the head with her revolvers. In fact, Ruby could feel a few hairs off of her head be ripped free by a passing bullet. Now that was too close for comfort. WAY too close.

Weiss and Ruby ducked into cover, behind a table that Weiss had just flipped over. Gritting her teeth, Ruby blind-fired over the rim of the table. Weiss, at the same time, tried to fire as much of her ice dust over the table without exposing herself too much. There wasn't much she could do with her current weapon in this scenario, unfortunately. She couldn't cast any dust accurately while taking cover.

"Any ideas?!" Ruby yelled at Weiss over the roar of gunfire.

"Glyphs, maybe!" Weiss yelled back. As it stood, her gravity glyphs were the only thing that could stand to end this firefight conclusively. They were outnumbered, so they needed to get rid of as many people at the same time as possible. All of them, if they could.

Nodding, Ruby fired another shot over the table before whipping her scroll out of her pocket. Glancing at her team's current aura stats, she couldn't help but question Weiss' idea. If she was going to get rid of a lot of people, she needed to make a big glyph. And, to make a big glyph, Weiss needed a lot of aura. But, her usage of dust had drained it quite a bit. Ruby wasn't sure if she could make a big enough glyph with her current aura amount.

"Can you really do it?!" questioned Ruby.

"…I think so!" Weiss said, pointing the tip of her rapier over the table's rim. She fired a bolt of fire dust that barely managed to hit an unlucky White Fang member. But, all that did was mildly singe one of his arms before he kept on firing.

"I'll help! Try to feel my aura!" Ruby suggested. Not giving Weiss time to protest, Ruby grabbed Weiss' pale hand and tried to expand her own aura. Hopefully, Weiss could use the boost to make her glyph bigger and larger.

The White Fang squad paused as the firing stopped from behind the table. Quickly, Emerald gestured to the White Fang to flank around the table. They were going to use a pincer move against those huntresses.

Just as the White Fang were about to move in place, Weiss could feel the barrier of her aura blend and mix into Ruby's. Yes! She could feel all of it! That warmth! That pulsing, heated energy! Weiss could feel it all! This is what she needed!

Weiss gave a brief, trusting nod at Ruby. Returning the nod, Ruby gave off a half-gritted, half-cocky grin. She was god damn ready for this. This was their counterattack.

Standing up quickly, Weiss and Ruby faced the White Fang members. With a quick motion of her sword hand, Weiss only had one thing to say to the group: "GRAVITY WARP!"

"Wha—" was all that escaped Emerald's lips before a massive white glyph expanded under her feet, and a black glyph expanded several feet above her. After that, all she could do was express pure shock and horror with her eyes.

It was too late for Emerald or the White Fang group to escape the event horizon of the glyphs. The gravity effect was so severe, that time itself became slightly dilated. The seconds seemed to slow down slightly as several loose objects, the White Fang members, and Emerald were all pulled into the center area of the two glyphs.

Those that got closer to the center lump were the unluckiest of them all. The sheer warp of the gravity put a strain on their bones that they just couldn't handle. Their limbs were crushed like twigs as the gravity pulled their limbs into strange and unnatural positions. In fact, if the gravity warp was any stronger, surely their internal organs would have been crushed. But, fortunately for them, Weiss didn't have enough aura for that, even with Ruby's power boost.

"GAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Weiss screamed as she put all the energy as she could into her semblance attack. She was using so much aura, it was beginning to strain her body past what was acceptable limits. Staring from her finger tips, a searing pain traveled through her nervous system. It felt like her veins and nerve endings were being lit on fire.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" she continued to scream, as she began to compress her glyphs more and more, further expanding the operational length of the glyphs. She was doing her damn most to keep those glyphs as wide and powerful as possible. If Ruby was yelling along with her, she couldn't tell. All Weiss could feel now was searing pain and the determination behind her semblance.

At that point, the glyphs creating the gravity warp began to flicker. Weiss had pushed herself far enough. This was all she was able to exude out. By now, Weiss could feel the very nerves in her eyes start to burn. Her vison blurred as she weakly dropped her hand, letting the glyphs disappear. Her Myrtenaster clanged against the floor, it's use completed.

Weiss and the bunch of people and objects collapsed at the same time. The heiress, from pure exertion. The White Fang, because the gravity well that snapped their bones and limbs ceased to exist. How fortunate for them.

Swiftly, Rub moved to try and keep Weiss standing. She was very close to just passing out on the floor, and Ruby just couldn't have that happen. After all, it stood to common sense that it was a bad idea to faint in the middle of a battle ground. More so if the fight was continuing on elsewhere. The sounds coming from the other parts of the warehouse more than gave that away.

"Weiss! You okay?!" Ruby asked in a raspy, concerned tone.

"Gughhh…" Weiss moaned, trying to wiggle out of Ruby's grasp. Putting a hand on the shot up table that once acted as her cover, Weiss tried her best to stand.

Heaving out of Ruby's arms, Weiss leaned against the table. Her shaky legs barely even held her steady. She felt terrible. But, that was the price of semblances. Blood needed to be paid in blood, and physical aura must be paid in internal aura. And now, Weiss was completely drained of her aura reserves. Short of not having any broken limbs, she was feeling just as bad as her gravity warped targets.

Even Ruby could feel the tinges of aura depletion in her body. Judging from how winded she felt, Ruby must have had half of her aura reserve used by Weiss. She could certainly use a short break. Maybe sit down and have a breather.

Weakly, Weiss tried to take a step forward to look at the pile of tortured, writhing bodies. But, the sudden churning in her stomach put a stop to that. There was no stopping what was going to happen next. Uncontrollably, Weiss couldn't help but heave over and vomit profusely. At first, she vomited up her day's food, but that ran out shortly. Instead, she began to expel more and more yellow-green bile. Weiss was vomiting so much, the small blood vessels around her throat and neck began to burst, leaving purple/blue bruise marks.

Acting swiftly, Ruby grabbed Weiss by the waist and dragged her over to an undestroyed heavy crate. With a quick lift, Ruby put her girlfriend on the crate to sit. Luckily, Weiss had stopped vomiting, and now grew even paler than her normal fair-skinned complexion. She felt so cold, that she was staring to tremble in an attempt to generate body heat.

Taking a polishing rag out of her pocket, Ruby wiped away a stray trickle of bile hanging on the corner of Weiss' mouth. "…Okay, I don't think we're trying that again," Ruby noted to herself and Weiss.

"No… *huff* Kidding…" Weiss added.

Ruby tried her best to make Weiss feel better. With a small smile, she said, "Hey. We got them."

"G-good…" Weiss quickly breathed out, trying to repress her gag reflex. There was no way Ruby would appreciate being vomited on.

Ruby flashed another brief smile at Weiss before letting her go. She had to make sure that the White Fang team and the girl with emerald hair no longer posed a threat. Walking over to where she set down Crescent Rose before standing with Weiss, Ruby picked it up and cocked back the bolt. Good, it still had ammo in its current magazine.

With Crescent Rose at the ready, Ruby cautiously walked towards the injured White Fang squad. She made sure to kick away any stray weapons that lie in front of her, making sure they couldn't be used. Not that they were in any operational state, given the crushing gravity that they were just subjected to. Still, it was best to make sure.

Curious, Ruby picked up one weapon. It was one of that green-haired girl's revolvers. Holding it daintily by the grip, a sickle-like blade dangled from its broken hinge. As it stood now, the bed and damaged blade could do no damage. Neither could the warped gun barrel. But, Ruby was thankful that the girl didn't get close enough to use her sickle blades. That would make a physical fight in a firefight. That alone should make it clear how undesirable that situation was.

Tossing the weapon aside, Ruby continued until she stopped in front of the agonized group. Looking at their twisted limbs and pain-filled moans, Ruby couldn't help but feel a measure of pity for them. That one girl who owned the revolvers specifically. From the looks of it, she wasn't fortunate enough to pass out from her pain yet. Instead, she let out quiet, wordless screams in her suffering. Ruby frowned at the sight. Kneeling down, she looked at the face of the girl. "Sorry," she quickly apologized, suddenly feeling awkward for saying sorry to her enemy.

Standing back up, Ruby pulled out her scroll and unlocked the lock screen. Noticing that it was currently open to the aura measurement app, she frowned at what she saw. Weiss was really in desperate need of recovery. There wasn't even anything filling up the stats meter. Weiss was done for the night.

Closing the app, Ruby opened the phone app and dialed the number for emergency services. Not only could she get the police here to arrest all these White Fang terrorists, she could also get the medical attention that Weiss and her gravity warped targets desperately needed.

Holding the phone to her ear, Ruby desperately hoped that her friends were having a better time. As the dial tone buzzed, she could feel her concern grow. If this is what she and Weiss had to resort to, what else could her teammates, Sun, and Neptune be facing?

Hopefully, her call for help would make all those fears go away.

**xxx**

**I hoped that you liked that fight! I mean, I'm sorry that I couldn't put things a little more from Emerald's perspective like the last chapter, but honestly, it wouldn't mesh well with the events of this chapter at all. It would be like mixing fine, aged whiskey with cheap dollar store diet cola. I'm sure you can see what I mean. Anyway, who's ready to see the thrilling fight with Sun and Neptune! I bet you're trembling with excitement! Or, that could be because you're cold. In that case, go use your nearest blanket, heater, or hot tub immediately. Oh, but before you do, be sure to leave me a review. They make me feel important. And like an actual author.**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm warping out of here, for now!**


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Sun And Neptune Take It On

**As you may or may not have guessed, we're right on the cusp of the climax here. That's right, the big cheese, the explosive finish, the end of the line. But, we're not done yet. In fact, there's one more thing we need to look at first before we can finally see how all of the previous action of our heroes will conclude. I mean, what's the point of an ending if there isn't a journey to make it all worth it, right? Anyway, enough with my rambling on here, let's get on with our final viewpoint, with Sun and Neptune! Hiiiyyaaaaa!**

**xxx**

Wait, wait, just a moment here. Let's take a step back one more time.

Sun couldn't help but twirl his service revolver as he and Neptune walked to their breach point. If he wasn't already used to using Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang, then he figured that he would make for a pretty good gunslinger instead. After all, flipping lever-action guns to reload them was similar to gun-play and handling trick shots with a revolver, right? It was close enough, anyway.

"Sun, could you get your head in the game already?" Neptune scolded as he held his lightning-caster rifle in his right hand.

"Don't know what you're sayin' man. I was fuckin' BORN ready," Sun cockily replied back.

Normally, Neptune would just sigh and go along with what his friend said. But, this time around, he grabbed Sun by the shoulder and forced him to stop in place. "Look," Neptune began, "We're going to be facing at least a dozen, if not three dozen angry, frothing terrorists who'll want our god damn heads on a stake. Sun, just get your head out of your ass and focus, damn it! I can't lose you in there!"

Sun looked surprised at his partner's outburst. Was the idea of being in a raid effecting him that much? "…What's your deal, man?" Sun asked with a small measure of concern.

Letting out a small huff, Neptune let go of Sun's shoulder. "…Sun, we're friends, right? I mean, we're partners. And I can't lose my partner in there. I... don't even know what would happen if something happened to you in there. So, when we go in there, I want you to be careful. You… understand, right?"

Sun nodded his head slowly. He more than understood what Neptune was saying. After all, he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel something similar for Neptune as well. Partners always stuck together to the end, after all. Taking Neptune's hand, Sun gave it a tight, flexing shake. "I'll be on your ass, man. We'll do great in there, bro! And don't worry, I ain't fuckin' dyin' any time soon."

That made Neptune smile a bit. "Good to hear."

That handshake/handhold lasted a little longer than either of them expected it to. But, by the time that they realized that they were pretty much holding hands, both pulled away at the same time.

"Uhh…" Sun mumbled, his monkey tail waving about in anxiety.

"Y-yeah… Let's just go. And let's not bring this up again," Neptune said suspiciously quickly. Good thing it was dark outside, otherwise people might have seen his slightly embarrassed blush.

"Like the gay porn, right?" Sun added.

"See, you just brought it up again," sighed Neptune as him and Sun began to walk again.

"Hey, it was YOU who thought it sounded like a good movie," Sun pointed out.

"Oh, you weren't blameless, Sun! You said, and I quote, 'I want a manly-ass movie tonight!'."

"I didn't ask for fucking gay porn!"

"I could've stood to watch something else! Like a documentary or something!"

"C'mon, dude! Movie Night is 'sposed to be fun, not full of fuckin' book learning!"

The both were so wrapped up in their argument, that neither of them stopped to make sure the coast was clear. Instead, they just cocked their weapons and got ready to breach, while still wrapped up in their petty fight.

"Dude, seriously! Have you ever bothered to watch something educational in your life?"

"Yeah, for your fuckin' information, I have! That doesn't mean I enjoyed it!"

Facing the front entrance, Neptune prepared to kick down the door. But, before he did so, he made sure to note to Sun, "We're gonna have a SERIOUS talk about this back at the dorm."

"Bite me, nerd," Sun grunted back, his grip tightening around his revolver.

Neptune allowed himself a brief roll of his eyes before kicking open the door. Aiming his sights down the lighting caster, he quickly made his way into the room, with Sun following in on his footsteps.

"FREEZE! NOBODY MOVE! VCPD!" Sun yelled at the top of his lungs behind Neptune. Neptune couldn't help but wince a little at his volume.

As if on cue, four White Fang members appeared from a hallway on the other side of the large room. They must have been on alert, as they were already holding their various models of assault rifles. Well, it was no surprise that they were ready to fight: it sounded like everyone else was staring their fights elsewhere in the warehouse.

"Don't move!" Neptune yelled at the group.

Instead, the group moved a little closer. Their apparent leader, a slightly brawny woman cockily slung her rifle across her shoulder and smirked at Sun and Neptune. "C'mon kid, you're outnumbered. Just lie back and take it," she sneered.

"Yeah!" "You tell 'em!", were a few replies that came from her group.

Neptune, however, stood his ground. "If you don't drop your guns, I'll have to blow you the hell away!" he growled.

The group leader dropped her rifle back into her hands. "Try me, boy," she replied, taking another step closer.

"Don't. Move!" Neptune warned for the final time.

"Heh. You're not gonna do shit!" the lady said, suddenly pointing her rifle at Neptune.

Neptune only took a scant second to react. Pulling the trigger of his lighting rifle, Neptune cast a large, arcing bolt of dust powered electricity towards the White Fang group leader. It collided with her instantaneously, forcing her to violently convulse. There were thousands upon thousands of volts being pumped through her body. Losing control of some of her muscles, she couldn't help but pull the trigger on her rifle, wildly firing everywhere. Unfortunately, that lead to a stray ricochet to bouncing off an odd angle and embedding itself in an unlucky White Fang member's leg!

"Fuck!" the man cried as he dropped his gun and clutched at his leg.

Neptune, in the excitement, never stopped pulling the trigger. Normally, the arc of electricity was only meant to be shot in bursts, not meant to be constantly maintained. Not only did that mean that the internal specs would be fried before long, but that also ran the risk of the target…

At that moment, the White Fang leader promptly exploded in a red cloud of gore.

Now THAT sight made Neptune let go of the trigger. In fact, that made just about everyone stop. Even Sun couldn't help but look at the miasma of body parts, blood, and whatever else remained of the (former) White Fang lady. The entire White Fang squad was covered a shower of blood and viscera.

"…"

"…"

"…Oh, fuck all kinds of THAT!" one White Fang member cried in horror.

"I don't get paid enough for this shit!" another one cried. Looking at each other, the two standing White Fang members dropped their guns and put their hands up.

Seeing this, Sun and Neptune stepped forwards to make the arrest. However, at the same time, the man who got accidentally shot in the leg gritted his teeth and growled at his comrade's cowardice. Picking his rifle back up, he turned the gun to his former comrades and fired.

The bullets tore into their backs, as punishment for their perceived betrayal. The White Fang never backed down after a setback like that! As the bodies of the former White Fang members slumped to the ground, the man then turned the gun to the nearest enemy: Sun.

Sun didn't have time to react before a bullet tore past his arm. "Fuck!" he cried in surprise. That a little too close for comfort, even if he did have a strong store of aura currently. He could definitely feel that bullet graze off the barrier of his aura. Wasting no time, Sun leveled his revolver at the injured man's chest and pulled the trigger three time.

The injured White Fang member gargled on his own blood as the bullets opened up new holes in his vital organs. If he had the presence of mind to think about it, at least two of those shots hit him in the lungs. The last one lodged itself in his stomach. Soon enough, he would be out of his misery. The blood uncontrollably pouring out of his wounds would see to that.

Moving forwards, Sun and Neptune prepared to move further into the depths of the White Fang hideout. As they walked across the large room, Neptune sighed and slung his lightning caster across his back. There was no way he was going to use that again. The internal parts were probably close to frying from all the stress of that last continued shot. Plus, he'd prefer to arrest people, not violently explode them with electricity.

Neptune pulled out his service revolver and pulled back the hammer. Meanwhile, Sun made sure to eject the spent shell casings and reload them with fresh slugs. Snapping the cylinder closed, Sun mentally prepared himself for whatever else might come up.

Then, suddenly, Sun tripped. "Ass!" he cursed as he fell to the ground.

"What, what?" Neptune asked, surprised at his partner's sudden panic.

"Tripped over a fuckin' hand!" Sun complained as he stood back up. It was the severed left hand of that exploded White Fang lady, alright. Pettily, he kicked it to the side and continued walking.

Neptune took after Sun's lead and continued to walk with him. "Probably shoulda used my revolver…" he muttered to himself. Deciding that it wasn't healthy to just dwell on it, Neptune decided to push that thought out of his mind. He was bound to see worse during his career as a hunter, anyway.

By now, Sun and Neptune had started to walk down the far hallway. With their guns at the ready, they were prepared for anything. And, surely enough, a random White Fang member leap out from behind a door and brandished a shotgun at the pair. And, almost as quickly, Sun and Neptune dropped him with a shot each. It was unfortunate that they couldn't arrest him, but coming out of nowhere and trying to kill you with a shotgun didn't exactly leave much time for that. Oh well, it was just an unfortunate part of Sun and Neptune's job.

Moving further down the hallway, the pair saw another door swing open, and a feminine voice call out. "You haven't taken care of it yet?" the feminine voice asked to the hallway. Sun and Neptune stopped in place, wondering if this person as going to reveal herself.

After a solid minute of silence, Sun and Neptune heard an annoyed sigh coming from behind the door. They heard the clink of glass heels as a very voluptuous woman came out of the room. One could imagine the surprise of the hunter pair as they saw that not only was that woman not a Faunus, but also stunningly gorgeous. Wearing glass slippers, a short red dress, and long, soft looking black hair, the woman eyed the two with what looked like contempt.

Sun shook his head to snap out of his stupor. "Hey, lady! Hands in the fuckin' air!" he barked at her.

A smug smirk briefly formed on the woman's face, before she expanded her aura. The dust that was sewn into her dress activated, and flaming wisps formed around the lady's hand. With a quick sweep of her arm, a cloak of fire briefly formed between her and the police duo. Neptune and Sun blocked their faces from the intense heat, which allowed the woman some time to run away.

Once the fiery attack dissipated, Sun and Neptune noticed that a set of double doors towards the end of the hallway were now open. That must have been where the woman escaped to! Dashing down the hallway, Neptune and Sun chased after the trail of the woman.

While he was running, Neptune fumbled around in his pockets for some spare ammo. His hand brushed against his lucky d20 as he yanked out a spare bullet to replace the one that he fired earlier. But, before he loaded up his revolver, he made sure to rub the die for good luck. He could most certainly use it right now. With that done, Neptune opened his cylinder and replaced the spent bullet.

By now, the police pair had reached the open double doors. Now it was up to them to confront whatever awaited them inside. But, no matter what it was, there was an unspoken agreement between the two. They were more than ready for this.

They were finally going to bring this quite-literal hot-shot to justice.

**xxx**

**Cliffhanger! What could be waiting for Sun and Neptune behind that doorway? How will they confront Cinder? And how will this all end? Find out in the next chapter, the thrilling climax of You're Under Arrest!**


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: You're Under Arrest!

**Sun! Neptune! Cinder! And all the rest! With that roster for this climax, how can it go wrong? Well, if I was more of a hack writer than I am right now, I'm sure that it could actually get worse. But, since I straddle the line between hack and genius writing, I'm sure that it'll turn out great! Right? Right. Anyway, with all that being said and done, let's get to the thrilling, action-packed, and amusing climax of You're Under Arrest! Let's feel that heat!**

**xxx**

Sun and Neptune stopped as soon as they reached the door's threshold.

Looking around, they saw that they were inside another large room. From the looks of it, this room appeared to be a storage room. You know, what one would normally expect to be present in a warehouse. Large weapon storage crates lined the room, with a few halogen lamps scattering light from up above.

Carefully, Neptune and Sun began to creep around the room. That one large stack of storage crates really drew their attention, as well as their concern. It was large enough for anyone to hide anything behind. And, as neither of them could hear the telltale clink of glass slippers against the floor, the police duo assumed that's where their hot mystery lady was hiding.

As they crept on the crate pile, Sun gestured with his hand for Neptune to go around on the other side. Nodding, Neptune obeyed Sun's directions and started to walk around the right side of the pile. Sun, meanwhile, went around to the left. It was your bog-standard flanking maneuver.

As they flanked the crates, Sun and Neptune finally came face to face with their mystery fire lady. And, by the looks of it, she had already thought of her ticket out of this mess. She was sitting lazily on a crate, playing with a large fire dust crystal in one of her hands.

"Oh, you two are fast," she dryly observed.

Sun furrowed his brow. "Hey, lady! Put down the dust! VCPD!" he barked.

The lady let out a sigh as she stood up to face the hunter pair. She took her time to stretch her back, before holding out the dust crystal for Sun and Neptune to see it better.

"Well, if you don't want to be finely cooked, I suggest you let me go," the woman said in a silky voice.

"Look, you don't need to do anything foolish," Neptune said in a firm, but soft tone. "Just put down the crystal, and give up."

As if she didn't pay attention to what Neptune said, the woman began to explain: "The crates in this room are filled with nothing but pure dust crystals. It would be… unpleasant if something set them all off. After all… it only takes a single spark." She punctuated her threat with a smooth smirk.

Sun and Neptune both took a few steps back at her threat. Damn, she had them by the balls. They thought they were going to stop people with bombs, not some crazy/sexy/crazy lady who was threatening to blow them all up with dust. Not that that point was all that far off, of course.

"…So, if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way," the woman said, starting to walk away. However, Sun cocked back the hammer on his revolver to get her attention.

"You're not movin' a fuckin' inch, lady. Now drop it!" Sun commanded.

"Cute as it may be to play cop, this is starting to get on my nerves," the woman said with a slight scowl. "Now, how about you drop your guns, and let me pass? I'm sure neither of you are fans of having your flesh burn."

Sun gritted his teeth. Damn it, he couldn't do anything about this lady! Man, she was good! His hand gripped the smooth wood of his revolver's grip tighter, before letting it go into a loose grip. Bending down, Sun placed the gun on the ground and showed the lady his empty hands. It sucked, but it was the only real option he had.

Neptune looked over at Sun and grimaced. This wasn't fair at all. But, he knew it had to be done. Mirroring Sun's actions, Neptune began to crouch to place down his gun. As he hunched over, he felt his d20 press against him in his pocket. Wait! His d20!

Locking eyes with his partner, Neptune quickly stood up and reached into his pocket. "Sun, now!" he cried, grabbing his die in his fist. Taking the d20 out of his pocket, he drew back his arm. This sure was a fucking dumb idea. But hey, it could work. Hopefully.

Trusting his arm and his aim, Neptune hurled the die at the woman. As it made its arc towards the lady, the words "_Roll for damage_" flashed into Neptune's mind almost on instinct.

The green d20 struck the lady in the center of her head, before flopping to the floor with a small, plastic clacking noise. "Huh?" was all the woman could grunt in confusion.

However, it was all clear to Sun what Neptune did. It was a distraction! Diving to the floor, Sun scooped back up his revolver and took aim at the fire lady. His aim was good an his sight was true. He could land a solid shot on her.

Sun took aim at Cinder's center mass, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet flew out of the revolver's barrel, and made a straight arc for Sun's target: her chest.

…And then the bullet proceeded to ram itself right between Cinder's legs.

Sun's aim was off, to say the least. But, that didn't mean that it wasn't effective.

An almost indescribable look crossed Cinder's face when the slug was shot at her crotch. It was a mix of shock, horror, pain, and shock again. In other words, the look you'd expect from someone who just got shot in the genitals.

A high-pitched wheeze escaped from Cinder's lips as she staggered against the crate she was sitting on a moment ago, before unceremoniously slumping to the floor. Her trembling fingers let go of the fire dust crystal, which rolled on the floor towards Sun. Sun made sure to grab the dust crystal and shove it into his pocket, before standing back up.

"Dude! You shot her in the crotch!" Neptune simply exclaimed.

"…I was aiming for her chest," Sun replied, dusting off his shirt.

"That's… I don't know!" exclaimed Neptune, who looked on in bewilderment.

"C'mon, it can't be—OH GOD!" Sun's dismissal phrase was interrupted by the not-so-pleasant view up Cinder's skirt. Given how much she was writhing around on the ground in pain, seeing such a sight was practically unavoidable.

In order to keep this story's graphic violence down somewhat, a vivid description won't be provided for Cinder Fall's now mangled vagina. Instead, for those curious to know that image, simply imagine a bunch of shredded cold cut slices covered in blood.

"You shot off part of the god damn lip!" Neptune cried, recoiling in horror.

"No shit, Neps!" Sun replied, his face scrunched in disgust.

"H-hos… H-h-h… H-hossss… H-ooospitalll…" Cinder begged from the ground.

"Oh, shit, right!" Sun said, something clicking in his head.

Walking over to Cinder, Sun knelt down and began to quickly read Cinder her rights. "You got the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used in a court o' law, you have the right to an attorney, you'll get one if ya can't afford one. Understand?"

The only response from Cinder was an incredibly pained gurgle. Well, that was a good enough answer in Sun's book.

Springing to his feet, Sun proudly declare, "You're under arrest, bitch! Yeah! BOOM!" He then offered Neptune a high five, who hesitantly returned it.

"Uh… shouldn't we get her some help?" Neptune pointed out.

"…Shit, yeah. Hold on," Sun said, pulling out his scroll. Dialing in the number for emergency services, he was starting to feel antsy for an ambulance to show up. As the dial tone rang, he briefly wondered if he should tell them to bring a few extra body bags for the mess in the other room.

But, besides all that, Sun and Neptune bagged themselves a baddie! Yeah!

**xxx**

Some time later…

As it turned out, Ruby already called for the cavalry, in addition to Sun. Good thing too, because the group sure as shit needed the extra ambulances and body bags for the messes they all individually made. Still, just because this was all going to be cleaned up easily, didn't mean that this took weight off of Sun's mind. Since Yang told him and Neptune what happened to the Gabby, he was thinking of how much Ozpin was going to dig into him for indirectly causing that thing to get wrecked AGAIN, this time for good.

Oh well.

As the ambulances had loaded up the still breathing White Fang members and their human partners, and the still recovering Team RWBY were giving statements to the responding officers that were called/getting needed medical treatment, Sun and Neptune sat on the hood of one of the police cruisers.

"What a fuckin' night…" Sun said to nobody in particular.

"No kidding," agreed Neptune.

After all, what else could you say about a night where, among other things: A bomb plot was thwarted, a bunch of White Fang terrorists were stopped, a bunch of stolen or illegal weapons were taken off the streets, stolen dust was recovered, a van laced with fire dust exploded a high-powered mech, a miniature black hole was generated, and a twenty sided die was used to take down a woman who threatened to blow everyone to hell.

At that thought, something clicked in Sun's mind. "Hey, what did the die land on?" he asked Neptunee.

"Huh? I didn't check before I picked it up," Neptune replied, digging into his jacket pocket and pulling out his lucky green die.

"Bet it was something good," Sun noted.

Neptune gave Sun a brief shrug before rattling the die in his hand. Then, with a light toss, Neptune rolled the die against the hood of the police car. Both him and Sun paid attention to it, curious to see what number would pop up.

Once the die settled, the pair couldn't help but laugh at the result.

It was a solid twenty.

"Now THAT'S pretty fuckin' good!" laughed Sun.

"Hell yeah it is!" Neptune replied, chortling.

The pair continued to laugh for another solid minute, before their laughter faded into small chuckles. Just as they finished basking in their mirth, Chief Irons unexpectedly walked up the pair.

"Chief!" Sun exclaimed. "What're ya doing here!"

"Wanted to see it in person," Chief Irons replied. "Heard it was a big bust."

"You bet it was," Neptune said, running a hand through his hair.

Sun, meanwhile, pulled the fire dust crystal out of his pocket and handed it to Chief Irons. "Crazy bitch tried to blow us up with that. Might as well put it with the rest of the evidence."

Nodding, the chief put the crystal in his jacket pocket. "I will. Ya know, you two did the city some good tonight," he complimented.

"Thanks, chief!" Sun replied with a small smile. But, it faded slightly when he said, "But, eh, what about the damages?"

"Don't run the moment, rookie," Chief Irons said, before pulling out a cigar and lighter. Lighting it up, he took a quick puff. "You'll cross that bridge when you'll come to it, " he noted.

"Fair enough," Neptune conceded.

Flicking a few ashes off the end of his smoke, Chief Irons said, "Guess I'll be seeing you two around, then." With that, he walked off towards another group of officers. At least he bothered to hand out a compliment before getting back to business.

When the chief was out of hearing range, Sun said, "Wow. Bet that was fuckin' rare."

"It's nice, though," Neptune agreed.

The two sat in silence after that remark, watching the officers, medical technicians, and other crime scene responders scuttle about. It was almost like the two were in a kind of haze. Everything felt… different. But, neither could tell if that was a good or bad feeling. However, it didn't really matter in the end. It was something new, that much was for sure. They might as well enjoy it while they could.

That feeling was interrupted by a sudden growling noise. Looking down, Neptune realized that it was his stomach grumbling. Now that he had sat down, he was starting to feel a bit puckish.

"Man, I'm hungry," Neptune observed.

"Wanna get something to eat?" Sun offered.

"What do you have in mind?" asked Neptune.

"Hot dogs? I'm pretty sure I saw a wiener joint on the way over here," suggested Sun.

"…Yeah, I'm down for that. Let's go!" Neptune said, sliding off the cruiser's hood to stand up. Sun did the same, and was now standing beside him.

"You're paying," Neptune told Sun.

"…Guess it's on the house, then," Sun noted, already beginning to walk away.

Neptune allowed himself a brief smile before following after his partner, his friend. As they walked away from the warehouse, Neptune couldn't help but think to himself that somehow, in some way, he was a lucky man. Everything turned out relatively well tonight, all things considered. And now, he was lucky enough to get a break along with his buddy.

And god damn it, the both of them were going to enjoy it for all it was worth.

**xxx**

**So… what did you think? Good, right? Bet you didn't see that takedown coming! Admittedly, that was one of the first ideas I had while coming up with this story. I just HAD to have it fit in there. Plus, now all that d20 stuff also paid off! Yay for Chekov's Guns! But, don't think I'm done yet! There's still one more bit to go! Until then, hold out for me! I know you fans can do it! You can feel that heat!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm out of here… for now!**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Epilogue

**Stand up to the victory! Yes, that's right, our proud hero's journey is over! Well, they're victorious to a fault. I mean, a police van got blown up under their watch. Oh well, let's just get to the wrap-up now. For the last time, just remember that I don't own RWBY, Rooster Teeth does. That's probably a good thing on their part, considering that I come up with… stories of a certain unique quality. Yeah, that's a good way to put it.**

**xxx**

Sun and Neptune were, in a simple word, anxious. Very, very, anxious.

The thing was, their nice morning was interrupted by a sudden announcement to report to Ozpins' office for… something. The announcement was very clear on that point. It was a shame too. Neptune was really diggin' that cheesy sourdough toast he was eating for breakfast. Now it was going to be cold when he got back to it. If he got back in time, that is. Stupid toast running announcements. Making his toast all abandoned and cold.

So, as the pair waited in the chairs outside Ozpin's office, all they could really afford to do was fume and speculate about what they were dragged there to talk about.

"It's gotta be 'bout the van. It's gotta be," Sun kept on insisting.

Although Neptune admitted to himself that his partner was probably right, he also figured that it had to be about something more than that. There was no way that Ozpin would out of his way to lecture them over an exploded van.

"Look, it's going to be a debriefing. That makes the most sense," Neptune flatly added.

Sun leaned back into his chair, the wood creaking as he stretched out. "Ughh…. Whatever it is, it's still annoying as shit," he mumbled.

"I'd drink to that," Neptune agreed.

"Pfft," Sun blew out. "You're a fuckin' ightweight. Fuck, I don't even think I've seen ya drink before."

"Sorry that I like taking care of my young body," Neptune dryly remarked back.

"Please, yer body ain't that great…" Sun remarked off-handedly.

A confused look briefly crossed Neptune's face. "…Are you saying you've checked me out before?" he asked.

There was a long, awkward beat as Sun realized what he just said sounded like.

"…Nope," was the blunt, short reply that Sun settled on.

"Right," Neptune swiftly accepted. This morning wasn't really the time to be dealing with stuff like that. Nor for stuff like the meeting they were currently waiting for. Mornings were meant for stuffing your face with breakfast foods, damn it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sensing the awkwardness of the beat, Sun went right back to speculating about why they were waiting at the office. "…Maybe we're gonna get a plaque or somethin'."

"Doubt it," Neptune quickly huffed out. "Look, does it really matter what happens now? I mean, our job is pretty much over."

"Well, yeah, no fuckin' shit," Sun replied off-handedly. "Still, doesn't mean it wasn't fun."

Neptune briefly stroked his chin in thought. Then, with a small shrug, he simply said, "I can agree with that."

And so, the hunter duo waited in silence, their bizarre adventure at an end.

**xxx**

Meanwhile…

At a place only known as Axis Point…

Five Faunus sat around a slim metal table. One man sat at the head of the table, while the others subordinates were seated at the sides. Even though some of the people wore either hoods or masks, the lights were still turned down to a dull shine. Even in darkness, these people still took care to conceal their features. Of course, this was for security reasons. But still, nothing good came from men who bothered to cloak their faces under the cover of darkness.

"So," a man with a hawkish nose began, "Our contract with the Fall woman has fallen through?"

"Correct," a woman obscured by a hood replied.

"Wasn't this deal under Taurus' jurisdiction? Why is he absent? He should answer for this negligence under his watch!" a man with a stringy, almost whisker-like mustache furiously demanded.

"He isn't privy to our process. You should know this," a man in a full-faced mask replied, his reedy voice slightly muffled by his facial covering.

The Faunus with the mustache angrily pounded his fist on the table before crossing his arms with a huff. Even though they didn't show it, every other meeting member at the table shared his frustrations. "What are we to do now?" the frustrated man groaned. "That was a costly investment!"

The man with the hawkish nose leaned forward, revealing himself more in the dim light above the table. His receding hairline was slicked back, yet plumed up in the back, almost like a raptor's plumage. A smug smile briefly tugged at his mouth as he reported, "It wasn't a complete loss. Torchwick provided us with more dust than we could ever possibly want."

"What of it?" the hooded woman interrupted. "Material is useless without a plan!"

Now the hawkish man's mouth couldn't help but contort into something that resembled a smile. "I vote we begin constructing the Metatron with our dust supplies."

A heavy silence covered the table as the other group members considered his proposal. The man with the mustache was the first to speak up. "That's nothing more than a pipe-dream! A fairy tale!" Why should we even bother—"

"I feel that the project has some potential," the man in the mask said, interrupting the mustached man. "I second that proposal."

"What a waste!" the hooded woman hissed. "We should focus on giving the dust to our existing troops!". However, any further protest was silenced by the man sitting at the head of the table, who had remained quiet until now. Even if he remained cloaked in shadow, his voice alone was enough to convey his power and standing.

"Rauthaz," the man said in a calm voice, "Do you have confidence in the stability of the Metatron?"

"I can guarantee it, sir," the hawkish man, Rauthaz, swore.

"And will it be viable to our cause?" the man at the head of the table pressed.

"Assuredly. The Metatron's abilities are hypothetically matched by none," confirmed Rauthaz.

"Then you are free to pursue that goal. Inform your division and begin plans to start construction."

Rauthaz grinned wider at the man's decree. "Of course. I'll be on it at once."

"Nobody will see it coming"

**xxx**

THE END

**xxx**

**Well, that's certainly a note to end the story on. What could possibly happen now? Well, I can't answer that in this story. You'll have to wait and see for when that plot point comes up again. Hey, I promise nothing, and I deliver less.**

**So, yeah! The end of another story! Well, before I close up shop on this one, let me just get out a few last thank you notes. Thanks to my editor, Jimbo Yokimbo for making sense of the first few chapters. Also, thanks to Falcyon for letting me bounce conclusion ideas off of him. Check both of them out, they deserve it! Also, thanks to you, the readers! You make writing worth all the time and effort it takes me! So, so long, and thanks for all the views!**

**This is The Draigg, and I'm done here!**


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